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CACI US LOADED WITH FRUIT. (ROWLAND HOMESTEAD, PUENTE.) 
















c 

O F 


A LIFORN I A 
THE SOUTH 


ITS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, CLIMATE, 

MINERAL SPRINGS, RESOURCES, ROUTES OF TRAVEL, 
AND HEALTH-RESORTS, BEING 
A COMPLETE GUIDE-BOOK TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 




BY 


WALTER LINDLEY, M. D. 


AND 


J. P. WIDNEY, A.M., M.D., LL. D. 


WITH MAPS AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS 


47790 

\ "* 

THIRD EDITION 

REWRITTEN AND PRINTED FROM NEW PLATES 


) ) 
) > > 



NEW YORK 

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 

1896 


’ 



Copyright, i888, 1896, 

By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. 


El TracsSs?.' 
f 2Je*07 



PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION. 


Nearly eight years have passed since the first edition 
of this work was published. Nine months later a second 
edition was issued containing an appendix, but no change 
was made in the main body of the work. The remark¬ 
able growth of Southern California during the past seven 
years, and the exceptional favor with which this book has 
been received by the public, have induced the author to 
prepare this thoroughly revised edition, in which all facts 
relating to Southern California are brought down to the 
latest date. 

In the closing months of 1887, when the first edition 
of “California of the South ” was prepared, the remark¬ 
able real-estate boom which swept over Los Angeles and 
Southern California during the years 1886 and 1887 had 
just culminated. We did not see it then, but can see it 
clearly now, that the fall of 1887 marked the beginning 
of the end of that wild era of speculation which did much 
good as well as evil in pushing forward Los Angeles and 
the surrounding country within three or four years to an 
extent which they could not have otherwise reached in 
three times that period. 

It was prophesied by many that after the subsidence 
of the real-estate excitement this section would relapse 
into a moribund condition. It might have been so in 
any other section of the United States, but the marvelous 

iii 


0 



IV 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


resources of Southern California—the charms of its unique 
climate and the valuable products of its fertile acres— 
were sufficient not only to tide this section over the 
natural reaction from a period of crazy inflation, but to 
establish it on a path of still more remarkable and per¬ 
manent progress. 

After the real estate excitement was over a period of 
planting and building and general improvement set in, 
which has continued until the present time, growing in 
force from year to year. The census of 1890 gave the 
city of Los Angeles a population of fifty thousand. The 
population to-day is not less that eighty thousand. Three 
great systems of electric street railroads have been con¬ 
structed, an ocean outfall and internal sewer system built, 
one hundred miles of streets graded and paved, buildings 
to the value of over twenty million dollars erected, and a 
good commencement made in establishing a manufactur¬ 
ing industry, to which the discovery of petroleum within 
the city limits has lent much assistance. 

In the country the progress has been no less remark¬ 
able. On every hand orchards of citrus and deciduous 
trees have been planted by thousands upon thousands of 
acres. A beet-sugar factory which utilizes the product 
of five thousand acres of land is in successful operation. 
Boom cities which were laid out merely on a real-estate 
basis—such as Monrovia, Whittier, Fullerton, and others 
—have grown to be flourishing, productive centers of 
population. Towns which had scarcely had an existence 
when the first edition of this book was published—such 
as Pasadena and Redlands—are now cities with brick 
blocks, banks, and other appurtenances of modern busi¬ 
ness life. 

The wonderful growth of Southern California during 
the ten years between 1880 and 1890 is told in a graphic 
manner by the figures of the United States census for 
those two years. Between 1880 and 1890 the counties of 


P REF A CE. 


V 


California showed an average increase of population of 
39.72 per cent. Of the fifty-three counties in existence 
at the latter date, twelve showed a decrease in population, 
while the highest percentage of increase shown by any 
county outside of Southern California was 64.90 per cent, 
San Francisco showing an increase of only 27.80 per 
cent. 

Now, as against those figures, take the following re¬ 
markable record of the six southern counties (Riverside 
County not having then been formed). These six coun¬ 
ties showed the following percentage of increase in popu¬ 
lation for the ten years: 

Per cent increase. 


San Diego. 305.98 

Los Angeles and Orange. 244.63 

Fresno. 237.90 

San Bernardino. 227.47 

Ventura. 98.52 

Santa Barbara. 65.60 


It should be noted that most of this remarkable ad¬ 
vance was made during the closing half of the decade, 
from the middle of 1885 to the middle of 1890, when the 
census was taken. 

It is evident to the most superficial observer that the 
progress of the past ten years in Southern California is 
but an index of that which is in store for this favored sec¬ 
tion. In no period of its history has the outlook for Los 
Angeles and Southern California been brighter than it 
is to-day. On every hand one sees activity, enterprise, 
progress. The eyes of many thousands in the East are 
turned to this promised land, and the immigration to this 
section of health, pleasure, and home seekers promises 
to be greater than it has been in any previous year since 
1886, with the difference that those who come now do 
not come for the purpose of gambling in town lots, but 
of making for themselves productive homes, or, in the 









VI 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


case of those who have a sufficiency of this world’s goods, 
of passing the closing years of their lives in a balmy cli¬ 
mate where every day in the year a man may “ sit under 
his vine and fig tree, with none to make him afraid.” 

It was for the purpose of giving authentic informa¬ 
tion regarding this much-talked-of section of the coun¬ 
try to those who are thinking of coming this way, either 
for a visit or to reside, that California of the South was 
written. From the warm reception which it has re¬ 
ceived, the author believes that it has fulfilled its mission, 
and that the present revised edition will be welcomed 
by thousands who desire to learn the truth about South¬ 
ern California as it is. 

In the work of revising the book for the third edition 
I have been materially assisted by Harry Ellington Brook, 
of the editorial staff of the Los Angeles Times, author of 
the Land of Sunshine and other works on Southern Cali¬ 
fornia, which have had a wide circulation. 


Walter Lindley. 


CONTENTS. 


PART I. 

CLIMATOLOGY OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 

By J. P. WIDNEY, A. M., M. D., LL. D. 

PAGE 

Two Californias.i 

The Pacific Coast of America as contrasted with the Atlantic Coast. 2 

Seasons . 8 

Topographical and Climatic Features in which the Different Por¬ 
tions of the Pacific Coast are unlike ...... 13 

Rainfall ............ 33 

Fogs.37 

Atmospheric Humidity ......... 37 

Sunshine ............ 38 

Winds ............ 38 

Temperature ........... 43 

Agriculture ........... 46 

Commercial Development ......... 51 

Transcontinental Roads ......... 53 

Harbors.56 

Type of Civic and Country Life.58 

Education ............ 61 

Diseases ..62 

vii 













V 111 


CONTENTS. 


PART II. 

LOS ANGELES, ORANGE, SAN DIEGO, SAN BERNAR¬ 
DINO, VENTURA, SANTA BARBARA, AND 
RIVERSIDE COUNTIES. 

By WALTER LINDLEY, M. D. 

PAGE 


The Overland Trip—How to enjoy it.69 

The Arrival in Southern California ....... 72 

A Century in Los Angeles ..73 

The Los Angeles of To day.83 

What to see in Los Angeles.85 

The Los Angeles Crematory ........ 103 

Los Angeles a Cosmopolitan City ....... 104 

Religious and Educational.107 

Parks . . . . . . . . . . . . .113 

Manufactures in Los Angeles . . . . . . . 117 

Trade and Commerce of Los Angeles . . . . . .121 

Climate of Los Angeles . . . . . . . . .124 

Los Angeles County, Soledad Township . . . . . .128 

San Fernando Township . . . . . . . . .132 

La Ballona Township, Santa Monica . . . . . .136 

Los Angeles Township . . . . . . . . .140 

Wilmington Township, San Pedro ....... 141 

San Antonio Township ......... 144 

Los Nietos Township, Long Beach, and Santa Fe Springs . . 144 

San Gabriel Township . . . . . . . . .148 

El Monte, Azusa, and San Jose Townships . . . . .158 

San Antonio Canon .......... 168 

Orange County ........... 172 

Anaheim Township—Westminster, Santa Ana, and San Juan Town¬ 
ships ............ 172 

Orange, Santa Ana, and Tustin. . . . . . . .178 

San Juan . . . . . . . . . . . .181 

Mineral Springs in Los Angeles and Orange Counties . . . 183 

Helen Hunt Jackson and the Mission Indians ..... 188 

San Diego County .......... 208 

City of San Diego .......... 215 

From San Diego East and North . ..... 219 








CONTENTS . ix 

PAGE 

Climate of San Diego County ........ 224 

Mineral Springs of San Diego and Riverside Counties . . . 225 

San Bernardino County ......... 230 

City of San Bernardino ......... 232 

East San Bernardino Valley ........ 239 

Mineral Springs of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties . . 245 

Riverside County .......... 252 

Riverside ............ 261 

Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties ...... 270 

The Riviera of the Pacific ........ 270 

Nordhoff—The Ojai Valley ........ 275 

Santa Barbara—America’s Mentone ....... 278 

Along the Coast........... 291 

The Islands of Southern California ....... 294 

Mineral Springs of Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties . . . 301 

APPENDIX. 

Land and Products .......... 3°5 

Horticulture 3°6 

Live Stock, Dairy, and Poultry . . . . . . • 3 X 3 

Prices of Land . . . . . . . • • • • 3 J 3 

Irrigation . . . . . • • • • • • • 3 I 4 

An Unbiased Opinion. 3 1 5 

Petroleum in Southern California . . . . . . 3 1 7 

Railway Tables . . . . • • • • • • • 3 21 

Rates to California ....•••••• 3 2 ^ 

Hotels of Southern California 3 2 ^ 













ILL USTRA 770NS. 


Xll 


The Call to Sunrise Mass, Pala Mission . 

Residence at Old San Bernardino .... 

Arrowhead Hot Springs Hotel, San Bernardino County 
Artesian Wells, South Riverside .... 

Santa Barbara Grape-vine ...... 

Irrigating an Orange Orchard ..... 

Solitude Canon, Catalina Island . . . 

General Nelson Miles, U. S. A. . 


PAGE 

. 223 

. 240 

. 247 

. 263 

. 284 

. 287 

. 296 

. 316 


t 







PART I. 

CLIMATOLOGY OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 

By J. P. WIDNEY, A. M, M. D., LL. D. 


Two Californias. 

The American east of the Rocky Mountains has been 
accustomed to look upon the map and speak of the State 
of California as he would speak of the State of Ohio or 
New York. He is only beginning to find out, what the 
old Spaniard discovered long ago, that where he had 
spoken of one, there are two, a California of the North 
and a California of the South, and that these two, while 
possessing many features in common, are in many others 
totally unlike. 

And with the settling up of the country, and the 
knowledge which comes of time and climatic investiga¬ 
tion, these differences are found to be even more marked 
than at first supposed. 

So unlike are the California of the North and the Cali¬ 
fornia of the South that already two distinct peoples are 
growing up, and the time is rapidly drawing near when 
the separation which the working of natural laws is mak¬ 
ing in the people must become a separation of civil laws 
as well, and two Californias stand side by side as distinct 
and separate States. 


2 


1 



2 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


To a clear understanding of the differences which 
exist between the Californias and the eastern portion of 
the United States, and again of the differences between 
the two Californias when contrasted the one with the 
other, it is necessary to examine into the geographical, 
topographical, and climatic features which they possess 
in common as contrasted with the eastern shores of the 
continent, and again the features wherein they differ the 
one from the other. 


The Pacific Coast of America as contrasted with the 

Atlantic Coast. 

The Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States 
alike have a general trend, diverging as they go north¬ 
ward, from the axis of the continent. This is caused by 
the widening out of the land as it passes northward from 
the Isthmus. This trend gives to each coast a general 
southerly exposure to the sea, the one facing toward the 
southeast, the other toward the southwest. North of the 
boundary line of the United States this similarity ceases. 
Upon the Atlantic side the shore line retreats toward the 
west, north of Newfoundland, which projects like a great 
headland out into the ocean. In consequence of this re¬ 
cession of the land, the shore has here a northeasterly 
instead of a southeasterly exposure. Along the line of 
this shore the broad, deep channel of Davis Strait opens 
a great, unobstructed way from the waters of the Atlan¬ 
tic to the Arctic Seas. 

Upon the Pacific side, instead of the falling back of 
the shore line, the divergence from the central axis in¬ 
creases until, at Alaska, the land faces boldly off toward 
the south. Instead, also, of a clear channel into the polar 
seas, that body of cold water is practically shut off, the 
narrow and shallow passage of Behring Strait admitting 
of only a slight communication, while another barrier in 


CLIAIA TO LOG V. 


3 


the shape of the long- transverse line of the Aleutian Pen¬ 
insula and its continuing islands makes a wall between 
the colder waters of the north and the warmer waters 
of the ocean south. 

In the mountain chains, also, a similarity and again a 
difference may be noted. Upon each coast in the south¬ 
ern portion a system of mountain chains follows the 
shore line at a greater or less distance inland. Upon the 
Atlantic side this system, the Appalachian, begins in 
northern Georgia, and extends continuously through the 
Carolinas, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, finally disappear¬ 
ing in northern Maine. It runs parallel to the coast, and 
at a distance of from two to three hundred miles inland. 
South of this line the land ceases, and the great heated 
body of the Gulf waters extends across the southern bor¬ 
der of the continent, sending its modifying influence, 
borne by the Gulf winds, far inland along the open valley¬ 
way of the Mississippi. North of central New York the 
chain begins to break down, leaving the country open 
upon the north and west to the cold winds which sweep 
down from the polar seas, and from the great frozen 
plains which extend to the mouth of the Mackenzie. 
The northwesterly winds gather an increased harshness 
from the winter-chilled waters of the Great Lakes, across 
which they pass. 

This Appalachian system is made up of mountains 
of limited altitude, ranging only from two to three thou¬ 
sand feet in height, and broken by numerous passes and 
low reaches. 

Between these mountains and the sea lies a coast 
plain, broad, continuous, fertile, watered by many rivers, 
and broken by no transverse range of mountains. 

Upon the Pacific coast, likewise, is a system of mount¬ 
ains running parallel with the coast, but much closer to 
it than the Appalachian upon the east. This Pacific 
coast system is made up of the Sierra Nevada, which in 


4 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


different portions of its length is known by various local 
names, and the Coast Range. This system, unlike its 
analogue upon the Atlantic coast, is not shortened upon 
either the north or the south. Beginning at the southern 
point of the Peninsula of Lower California, in the latitude 
of Cuba, it follows the coast as a double range, the outer 
keeping near the shore, the inner at a distance of from 
one to three hundred miles; sometimes the Coast Range 
disappearing, again reappearing—the Sierra, however, 
always continuing as a practically unbroken chain; some¬ 
times the two ranges coalescing, sometimes separating 
and inclosing between their two walls long, compara¬ 
tively narrow valleys, which drain to the sea by breaks 
in the outer range; sometimes the outer range disappear¬ 
ing entirely for a space, leaving these valleys open to the 
sea as great coast plains. 

The Coast Range has generally a narrow rim of plain 
at its base, cut transversely by numerous small streams 
and rivers which quickly reach the sea. This system of 
mountains extends as a continuous line from the penin¬ 
sula of Lower California through California, Oregon, 
Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska, finally turn¬ 
ing directly westward out the long Aleutian Peninsula. 

Pouring out of the Arctic Ocean through Baffin’s 
Bay is a great polar current of cold water, with a tempera¬ 
ture but little above the freezing point, chilling, by its 
contiguity, the open plains of Labrador, and thus lower¬ 
ing the mean annual temperature of the northern Atlantic 
States and of Canada, which lie open to the winds sweep¬ 
ing southward from these colder regions. No range of 
mountains intervenes to break the force of these air cur¬ 
rents, or to give shelter, the whole Atlantic slope north 
to the polar seas being practically one continuous open 
plain. South of Labrador the polar current is shot off 
to the mid-Atlantic by the prominent headland of New¬ 
foundland, excepting, however, such smaller portion of 


CLIMA TO LOG V. 


j 

it as may pass within that island by the Strait of Belle 
Isle and down bv the Nova Scotian coast. 

The south end of the Atlantic plain has, on the con¬ 
trary, its shore line constantly bathed in a current of 
warm water having a temperature of 86°, which comes 
from the heated tropic seas, and then circling through the 
Carribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, emerges by 
the Strait of Florida and is deflected northward along the 
coast of the United States by the reefs and islands of 
the Bahamas. From these heated waters flow inland the 
warm, moist air currents which give to the South Atlantic 
coast its sultry heat. Yet this ocean stream, also, after a 
while, leaves the vicinity of the land, and passes seaward 
to the mid-Atlantic and on to the North European coast, 
in part carried by the line of its escape from the Gulf, 
in part deflected by the curve of the Florida coast, and 
by the projecting capes of the Carolinas. 

Between these tw r o deflected currents, the Gulf and 
the polar, is a triangle, having for its base the shore line 
from Cape Ffatteras, in the Carolinas, to Cape Race, on 
the extremity of Newfoundland, and extending far sea¬ 
ward, the temperature of whose waters, controlled by no 
great ocean current, varies with the seasons—colder in 
winter, warmer in summer—and so serving less efficient¬ 
ly as an equalizer of temperature on the adjacent land.* 
Neither is there found upon the Atlantic coast the 
strong sea breeze or the on-shore trade-wind currents 
of the Pacific coast. As a result of these geographical 


* The following table shows the winter and summer variations of sea 
temperature upon the Atlantic coast as compared with the Pacific: 



January. 

July. 


January. 

July. 

New York. 

33 - 3 ° 

72.4 0 

San Francisco. . 

52 . 1 ° 

59 -o° 

Savannah. 

49 - 0 ° 

84 - 5 ° 

Long Beach... . 

6o.o° 

68 5° 























6 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


features, the climate of the Atlantic coast presents great 
and well-marked variations, the North showing extremes 
of cold in winter, the South extremes of heat in summer, 
and this, too, with an atmosphere heavily charged with 
moisture—not simply within reach of the coast fog, but 
extending inland to the valley of the Mississippi. 

The points of resemblance between the two coasts 
now begin to cease, for, while the Pacific shore has also 
its ocean current, it is one, rather than two, and it flows 
along the full length of the coast, with a temperature 
varying but little from the one even and moderate de¬ 
gree, whether winter or summer, or whether north or 
south. The Kuro Siwo, as it is termed—the great Japan 
current—flows from the tropics northward along the 
Asiatic coast, bathing the Japan Islands in its warm 
waters, and giving to them their mild and equable cli¬ 
mate. Passing on northward, it is deflected toward the 
east in latitude 50° by the long chain of the Aleutian 
Islands, and then, striking the Alaskan coast, turns south, 
and so follows down the west shore of North America 
as a current, cooled yet not cold, for, instead of entering 
the Polar Sea, it is still, at the most northerly point of 
its flow, within the temperate zone. Neither does any 
cold polar current set out through the narrow and shoal 
P>ehring Strait to join it and reduce its temperature be¬ 
low the refreshing coolness which it gains in latitude 50° 
north. It is this current, together with the all-the-year 
on-shore winds of the counter-trades on the coast as far 
south as Oregon, and the strong daily sea breeze of the 
summer and the on-shore counter-trades of the winter, 
south of Oregon, which give the clew to the equable cli¬ 
mate of the Pacific coast of North America. 

Passing inland beyond the range of the sea breeze, 
this cool summer temperature is no longer found. On 
the contrary, the mercury will often show a heat in the 
day of ioo° to tto°. Yet here another climatic law comes 


CLIAIA TO LOG Y. 


7 

in play to rob this high temperature of its danger, and, 
indeed, of much of its discomfort. 

The hygrometer shows an atmosphere in these inland 
regions almost devoid of moisture, and, by the conse¬ 
quent rapid surface evaporation from the skin, bodily 
temperature is reduced and sunstroke almost unknown. 
Of the power of this evaporation to keep down bodily 
temperature, the writer has a vivid recollection during 
some weeks spent in Tucson, Arizona, some years ago. 
Just before the setting in of the summer rains, with the 
mercury daily at ioo° and the atmosphere devoid of mois¬ 
ture, the surface of the body was dry, and the heat not 
in the least oppressive. Immediately upon the coming 
on of the rains, the daily temperature fell to an average 
of from 85° to 90°, but with an atmosphere laden with 
moisture, and the surface of the body was constantly 
bathed in the unevaporating perspiration, and the heat 
became almost unendurable. It is this absence of atmos¬ 
pheric moisture and its effects which make one of the 
great points of difference between the summer climates 
of the Atlantic and the Pacific slopes. 

The explanation of this atmospheric dryness back 
of the immediate California coast line, and on to the in¬ 
terior during the summer, lies in the fact that south of 
Oregon the prevailing summer wind, except within the 
limited shore line reached by the sea breeze, is not from 
the sea, but is the regular off-shore trade-wind, coming 
from the great arid desert plateaus of the heart of the 
continent, and which, as it nears the coast, rises above 
the lower surface current of the daily ocean breeze, and 
flows continuously out to sea, until broken in the au¬ 
tumn, and beaten back by the shifting southward of the 
counter-trades. 

Another important factor in the dissipation of exces¬ 
sive heat during the summer is the rapid radiation of the 
night which the atmospheric dryness admits of, and 


8 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


which, in the more elevated regions whence the night 
wind comes, is increased by the lightness and rarefaction 
of an atmosphere with less superincumbent weight upon 
it. Under the workings of this law, upon these desert 
plateaus the day, with a temperature of ioo° to iio°, is 
followed by night with a temperature so low as to require 
blankets for comfort and health. 

The influence of the mountains in a comparison of 
the climate of the two coasts is an important item. 
Dwellers along the slopes or near the base of high moun¬ 
tain peaks know the cool night breezes which blow down 
their sides. The writer well remembers the rush of the 
great cold mountain wind which swept down the canons 
of the Arizona mountains in many a lone night camp 
under the trees, the wind roaring through the long night 
hours in the pines overhead like the roar of some long- 
lost desert sea. The Atlantic coast, as already shown, 
has its mountain system back several hundred miles from 
the sea; but the mountains are of low elevation, ranging 
only from two to three thousand feet in height. The Pa¬ 
cific coast, however, is lined with ranges and spur-ranges 
whose peaks lift to elevations of from two to ten thou¬ 
sand feet, and snow-clad until the summer is well gone 
by. From these cold, snowy summits at night comes to 
the heated valleys below a continuous current, partly the 
natural mountain wind, partly the dropping down of the 
high trade-wind already mentioned, cooled by its passage 
over these great elevations, and hence the cool, refresh¬ 
ing nights which characterize the Pacific coast summers, 
as contrasted with the continuous day and night heat of 
the Atlantic slope. 

Seasons. 

The old division of the year into winter and summer, 
with which the Anglo-Teuton race has been familiar 
during the thousands of years of its migrations, becomes 


CUM A TO LOG Y. 


9 


upon the Pacific coast a misnomer, or the words must 
be taken in a new signification. The snows and the ice 
of its older homes become here the rains and the occa¬ 
sional light frosts of a climate in which winter and sum¬ 
mer are supplanted by a wet and dry season. As already 
shown, the northeast trade-wind, which is the prevailing 
wind for the summer half of the year upon the whole 
coast south of Oregon, is an off-shore dry wind, coming 
from the high, arid plateaus of the heart of the continent. 
With it comes no rain. But as the sun retires south¬ 
ward in the autumn, this dry wind follows it, and the 
northwest counter-trade of the upper coast, which is an 
on-shore rain wind, and which, as the prevailing wind 
all the year round on the Oregon and Alaskan coast, 
gives to it the monthly rains, also follows the sun, and 
now takes the place of the dry trades upon the coast 
as far south as the peninsula of Lower California, 
bringing with it the rains which, from October to May, 
make of the winter of other lands the true summer or 
season of growth in this. - Then, when the rains are over, 
come the summer months of other lands, but which here 
are the season when vegetation sleeps, and the land, 
where not irrigated, looks dry and bare. 

A mistaken idea prevails often with persons who have 
formed their conceptions of a rainy season from the de¬ 
scriptions given by travelers in equatorial regions of the 
tropic rains, with their daily downpour and their appall¬ 
ing thunder and lightning. The winter rainfall of the Pa¬ 
cific coast, while in its northern portion in excess, and in 
the extreme south less than that in corresponding lati¬ 
tudes upon the eastern side of the continent, averages 
throughout Oregon and California much as in the Atlan¬ 
tic and Mississippi States. 

Neither are the rainy months marked by violent and 
heavy rainfalls. From the middle of October to the mid ¬ 
dle of November the first rain of the season generally 


IO 


CALIFORNIA OF TIIE SOUTH. 


falls, giving in the course of two or three clays from one 
to three inches. Then, after several weeks of clear 
weather, comes rain again in the same manner. In the 
latter part of December what is called one of the heavy 
winter storms sets in, when, during a week or ten days 
of south winds and broken, rainy weather, a fall of from 
five to eight inches may be expected. January is gen¬ 
erally marked by clear weather, with possibly occasional 
slight rains. In February or March another of the 
heavy storms may again be expected. Then the rains 
gradually grow less, until by May they have almost 
ceased. 

The rains of the plains and valleys are accompanied 
by snows in the mountains, snow accumulating to a depth 
of many feet in the high Sierra, and to a less depth in 
the lower Coast Ranges. This snow forms the great 
storehouse of moisture for the summer streams, slowly 
melting and filling the various rivers during the rainless 
summer. Thunder and lightning are almost unknown. 
During the summer what is known as the Sonora sum¬ 
mer rain current occasionally follows up the long chain of 
the Sierra, giving showers, with thunder and lightning, 
in the mountains, and at intervals of a few years even in 
the valleys. This current may at times last for a week, 
and during its continuance the weather becomes some¬ 
what sultry, like that of the Atlantic States, but with the 
sea breeze, although for the time blowing with less force, 
to modify and temper it. 

The summer along the whole sea coast is marked by 
night fogs, which set in after the spring rains check, and 
cease before the rains of the autumn begin. These fogs 
lift in the early forenoon, and by their humidity and 
freshness help to make the day cool and refreshing. The 
heat of the summer is not felt along the coast within 
reach of the sea breeze—a midday temperature of from 
65° to 8o° being the rule, varying with localities. Back 


CL/A/A TO LOG Y. 


I I 

from the coast, in the interior valleys, where the fog 
does not penetrate, the midday temperature may, in ex¬ 
ceptional cases, during a hot spell, reach 90° or ioo°, or 
even 105°, but it is a dry heat, without the discomfort or 
the danger attending a like temperature in the Atlantic 
or Mississippi States. These hot spells, as they are 
called, may occur several times during the course of the 
summer, generally lasting for three days, when the mer¬ 
cury drops, and the normal coolness returns. Even 
during these hot spells, however, the night is generally 
marked by a rapid fall in temperature, so that sleep is 
restful and refreshing. 

While the summer is marked by the regularity of the 
daily sea and land breezes, the cyclones and great wind 
storms of the Atlantic and Mississippi regions are here 
unknown. 

Another and very marked feature of the Pacific slope, 
as contrasted with the Atlantic, is the great variety of 
climates found within comparatively limited areas. This 
variety arises largely from the difference in the moun¬ 
tain development upon the two sides of the continent. 
I'pon the Atlantic slope, as already described, the one 
system follows parallel with the coast, but at a distance 
of several hundred miles inland, and is of moderate ele¬ 
vation, ranging only from two to three thousand feet, 
while no spur ranges reach out to the coast, and no coast 
range rises between the broad coast plain and the sea. 
Upon the Pacific slope the main chain of the high Sierra 
also follows parallel with the coast, at a distance some¬ 
what less, however, ranging from sixty to two hundred 
miles from it. But instead of an elevation of only two 
or three thousand feet, it rises to from eight to fourteen 
thousand feet above the sea. Again, instead of the open 
coast plain, as upon the Atlantic side, comes a second 
line of mountains, the Coast Range, parallel with the 
coast and close to it. These two ranges, also, at several 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH 


I 2 

points in their long line coalesce, and merge into great 
broken, upland mountain plateaus and Alpine regions. 
The resulting difference in the climate of the two coasts 
is very marked. While upon the Atlantic side the suffer¬ 
er from the summer heat, or the invalid, must undertake a 
journey of many hundred miles to find even a moderately 
cool mountain air, upon the Pacific coast, if a resident 
of the warmer interior valleys, and not desiring to seek 
the seaside, within his sight are mountains where he may 
find any temperature ranging from refreshing coolness 
to night frosts or perpetual snows. So, too, in the Coast 
Range, are varieties of climates such as one would seek 
in vain upon the Atlantic slope. While upon the ocean 
side of the range are great forests where the giant red¬ 
wood is bathed nightly in the dense, cool fog which seems 
to be essential to its growth, just across the summit are 
warm mountain slopes facing off toward the morning 
sun, their rolling hills green to the very crest with the 
olive and the vine; and vet from their sheltered warmth 
one may pass on for a few miles to some pass or gap in 
the range that is swept during all the summer months 
by the great, cool ocean wind as it rushes through to the 
heated interior. 

Thus, there is scarcely a point in California where one 
within a few hours by rail has not his choice of a climate, 
varying from the heat of the Atlantic or Mississippi mid¬ 
summer to the coolness of the White Mountains, or the 
perpetual snows of the higher Alps; his choice from a 
hot, dry air, as of the highlands of Arabia, to fogs and 
coolness, as of the west coast of Scotland; his choice from 
a stillness, as of the calm of the “ hollow lotus-land,” 
where no harsh winds blow, to other points swept by 
ocean winds which for months pour inland with the rush 
and the roar of a great aerial river. It is this infinite 
variety, lying back of the typical equability, which gives 
to the Pacific-slope climate its strongest charm, and 


CUM A TO LOG Y. 


13 

which makes it suit so infinite a variety of constitutions 
and diseases. 

Topographical and Climatic Features in which the Different 
Portions of the Pacific Coast are unlike. 

A stranger might infer, from the foregoing, that one 
common climate, with little variation, existed over the 
wdiole Pacific coast. This is not the case, however. 
Upon the coast line three distinct types exist, wdiile a 
fourth is found back of the Sierra on the great inland 
plain. And these climatic differences are sufficient to 
make radical differences in agriculture, in commercial 
laws, in civil divisions, in health and disease, and in race 
development. 

These climatic belts may be classified into— 

1. The northern, which includes the upper coast from 
the great transverse coalescing of mountains near the 
upper line of California northward. In this division lie 
Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and the imme¬ 
diate coast-rim of Alaska, and the long chain of islands 
which lines the coast. 

2. The central, which includes California as far south 
as the eastward turn of the coast at Point Conception. 
Near this point transverse chains of high mountains sepa¬ 
rate the State into two distinct topographical and cli¬ 
matic divisions. 

3. The southern, which embraces what is distinctively 
known as Southern California, and includes that portion 
of the State lying south of the transverse chains of moun¬ 
tains just mentioned. 

4. The great inland plateau, lying between the Sierra 
Nevada and the Rocky ranges, and reaching from the 
Gulf of California on the south to the Polar Sea on the 
north as a continuous open plain, unbroken by any trans¬ 
verse chain of mountains. 


14 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


THE NORTHERN BELT. 

The first of these belts, that from Oregon northward, 
has three physical features, which are the key to the cli¬ 
mate, viz.: the disappearance of the Coast Range which 
is found farther south, and the drawing near to the coast 
of the northern extension of the Sierra Nevada, which as 
a continuous, but here somewhat broken, and rather low 
range, follows near to the coast, and separates it from the 
inland plateau; a shore line closely hugged by the south¬ 
ward flow of the return current of the Kuro Siwo—an all- 
the-year on-shore wind current of the moist counter¬ 
trades. 

The result is a climate which, while showing some¬ 
what of the extremes of the high latitude, is yet tempered 
winter and summer by the constant inflow of the counter¬ 
trades, an air current rendered equable by the mild ocean 
waters over which it passes before reaching the land; yet, 
because of the lower and broken character of the range 
back, this coast climate receives through contiguity, and 
through irregular wind currents from the land, somewhat 
of the harshness of the inland plateau which is in its north¬ 
ern part a frozen polar plain. 

This portion of the Pacific coast resembles in a 
marked degree, physically and climatically, yet in a more 
temperate type, the west coast of northern Europe, from 
and including the British Islands, and north through 
Sweden and Norway. This belt is marked also by an 
excess of moisture. Thus the annual precipitation at 
Sitka is one hundred and ten inches; at Portland, Oregon, 
fifty-three inches. 

The all-the-year on-shore current of the counter¬ 
trades is, winter and summer, a rain current. While pre¬ 
cipitation is heavier in certain months of the year, still no 
month is without its regular rains, its fogs and clouds. 
In the extreme north, or in the mountains farther south, 


CL IMA TO LOGY. 


15 


this precipitation is of course during the winter months, 
more or less, in the form of snow. While the portion of 
this belt north of Oregon is not marked by a deep soil, 
the abundance of moisture, and the always moderate 
temperature, stimulate a vigorous life of the hardier class¬ 
es of vegetation, and hills and \ alleys are covered by a 
dense growth of forest, made up chiefly of fir and pine. 

This is especially the timber belt of the Pacific coast, 
and is the great source of supply for lumber, which is 
shipped by sea to the various points of demand. South¬ 
ward, the timber belt tends to retreat from the valleys 
into the higher mountains to secure the requisite cool¬ 
ness and moisture, except what is known as the redwood 
belt, which extends along the immediate shore line as far 
south as midway on the California coast. 

This northern belt is the one also rich in coal and iron, 
both of which grow scant in quantity, and the coal poor 
in quality, farther south. The abundance of timber, coal, 
and iron marks this belt as the future manfacturing por¬ 
tion of the coast. 

Its low mountain passes, easy grades across the conti¬ 
nent, and abundance of good harbors, mark it also as one 
of the natural routes for transcontinental traffic. Al¬ 
ready Puget Sound and the mouth of the Columbia are 
becoming terminal points for such trade. 

Agriculturally, it is the belt of grasses, of rye, of oats, 
and of northern grains and fruits, and in its southern por¬ 
tion of the wheat plant, the potato, and the apple. The 
annual temperature is too low for corn. 

Its seas, like those of the west coast of northern Eu¬ 
rope, abound in fish of the most valuable kinds for food, 
such as the cod, the mackerel, and the salmon. Its fish¬ 
eries are already of vast commercial value. 

For healthfulness it ranks with the west coast of 
Europe; free from malaria, having the rheumatisms, the 
pneumonias, and the catarrhs of the north—a climate 


j 6 CALIFORNIA OF TIIE SOUTH. 

healthful for moderately robust constitutions; because of 
its continued dampness, and its low but not excessively 
cold temperature, not to be selected as the resort of deli¬ 
cate persons, of invalids, of consumptives; the future 
home of a hardy, prosperous, seafaring, fisher, agricul¬ 
tural, and manufacturing folk, having the substantial ele¬ 
ments for the building up of a strong, vigorous civili¬ 
zation. 

THE CENTRAL BELT. 

This belt, as before stated, includes California as far 
south as a line drawn from that prominent headland of 
the coast known as Point Conception, in a northeasterly 
direction to the mountains at the south end of the San 
Joaquin plain, thence following the curve of the Sierra 
as it turns northward, and on to Mount Shasta and the 
Oregon line. 

This belt presents, as its topographical characteris¬ 
tics, an extensive interior valley—the Sacramento-San 
Joaquin—in elevation but little above the sea level, hav¬ 
ing its length from north to south, and shut in upon all 
sides by mountain chains except one narrow outlet to the 
sea. Upon the eastern side of this valley a lofty and con¬ 
tinuous range, the high Sierra, shuts it off, and isolates 
it from the interior of the continent. Upon the west a 
lower chain of mountains, the Coast Range, walls it in 
from the ocean—this range splitting into two in the mid- 
California region, and inclosing between them San Fran¬ 
cisco Bay and a series of smaller inner coast valleys. Up¬ 
on the north and the south this Coast Range coalesces 
with the Sierra, thus shutting in the great interior valley 
of the Sacramento-San Joaquin from the northern and the 
southern belts. 

Upon the ocean side of the Coast Range are numer¬ 
ous small coast valleys, each generally drained by a short 
water-course having a rapid fall to the sea. 


CL/M A TO LOGY. 


17 


The mountain development makes the central belt the 
most isolated and difficult of access of the three Pacific 
coast divisions. Upon the north are the heavy grades 
and the rugged mountains about Shasta. Upon the 
south the crests of the Tehachapi, crossed by the South¬ 
ern Pacific at an elevation of 4,025 feet; while east of it 
and between it and the great interior of the continent 
runs the full length of the highest portion of the snow- 
clad Sierra with but few passes. The Central Pacific 
crosses this range on its way eastward at an elvation of 
6,749 feet. 

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley, which forms 
the greater mass of the agricultural land of this belt, is 
some four hundred and fifty miles in length by from sev¬ 
enty-five to one hundred miles in width. It is a level, un¬ 
timbered plain, except in the foothills, with an eleva¬ 
tion but little above the sea. The flat character of the 
plain, and the narrow outlet to the sea, make the river 
portions of the valley subject to severe floods in the 
winter. 

Shut in from the sea breeze by the Coast Range, the 
extremes of both heat and cold are much more marked 
than upon other portions of the California slope of the 
Sierra. 

Thus, the mean, average temperature of Sacramento 
for January is 46.6°; for July, 71.2 0 : at Visalia, January, 
4S.1 0 ; July, 8o.8°: at Los Angeles, January, 53-9°; July 
70.2 0 : at San Diego, January, 55 0 ; July, 68.4°. 

The winter rain currents, being from the south, have 
to cross the Coast Range of mountains to reach the San 
Joaquin portion of the valley, and in crossing are robbed 
of much of their moisture, giving at Visalia an annual rain¬ 
fall of only 10.46 inches. The central and northern por¬ 
tions of the valley receiving the current which enters 
from the sea by the lower gaps about San Francisco Bay, 
have a much larger rainfall; thus, Sacramento reaches an 
3 


jg CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 

annual average of 18, while the northern portions range 
much higher, Red Bluff having 36.39 inches. 

As a result, while the rainfall in the north is sufficient 
to insure constancy to agricultural returns, in the San 
Joaquin plain, and especially in its southern portion, the 
returns are much less certain. It is only a question of 
time, however, when this whole valley will be made to 
support a dense population. The high Sierra back of it, 
with its peaks ranging from ten to fourteen thousand feet 
in elevation, its heavy winter snows, and its great water¬ 
shed, furnishes a summer flow of water which, when once 
fully utilized, will probably be sufficient to irrigate the 
whole plain. It is in this future development of irriga¬ 
tion, rather than in mines or commerce, that the true 
wealth of the central belt lies. Already extensive irriga¬ 
tion works are in operation, but the need is for a compre¬ 
hensive system under some general plan and with proper 
supervision. 

Between this valley of the Sacramento-San Joaquin 
and the ocean lies the broken and irregular Coast Range 
of mountains, with its rolling hills, and its many smaller 
valleys, notably the valley of the San Francisco Bay and 
its branches. These valleys are, as compared with the 
great interior Sacramento-San Joaquin basin, small in 
area yet marked by a high degree of fertility. They 
possess a more equable climate and a more reliable rain¬ 
fall, which in the valleys facing south is sufficient, in the 
driest years, to mature grain—in the valleys facing the 
north, less certain. The low elevation of the Coast Range, 
and the absence of accumulated snow, make the streams 
of these valleys small and unreliable, so that extensive 
irrigation is not possible. In many of them artesian 
wells help to supply the lack, and are utilized for watering 
orchards and gardens. 

The central belt, as a whole, is marked by certain char¬ 
acteristics peculiar to itself, as contrasted with the north- 


CLIMA TO LOG Y. 


19 


ern or the southern. Lying south of the line of the moist, 
on-shore, summer counter-trades, it has an upper and 
controlling summer current, the continuous off-shore 
northeast trade-wind, blowing down from the arid pla¬ 
teaus of the interior of the continent. It is this current 
which gives to the central belt the rainless summer, and 
the dry, clear atmosphere for which it is noted. The ex¬ 
cessive dryness makes the air seem, to one unaccustomed 
to it, even harsh. In this respect it is unlike either the 
northern or the southern belt. 

The shore line, which keeps the general east-of-south 
trend of the northern belt, is still closely hugged by the 
return current of the Kuro Siwo. This current, still re¬ 
taining the coolness of the Alaskan seas, is now in sum¬ 
mer of a lower temperature than the land. The heating 
of the interior valleys gives rise, during the after part of 
each summer day, to a strong, surface-current sea breeze 
which, as the temperature of the land drops toward night, 
bears in a heavy fog, that envelops the shore line and the 
valleys adjacent to the sea. This wind, with its attendant 
fog, is especially marked wherever a gap is found in the 
Coast Range, giving easier access to the heated interior. 
It is the coolness, and the nightly moisture of these sum¬ 
mer fogs, which draw the forest line well down the coast 
in northern California. To persons of delicate constitu¬ 
tion—those who do not make blood and bodily heat rap¬ 
idly—these keen sea breezes and the chill fog are very 
trying. 

From the long plains of the Sacramento-San Joaquin 
come at times, more especially during the late summer 
and the autumn, hot, dry winds which are not found in 
either the northern or the southern belt. In the same 
way during the winter, cold, dry winds sweep from the 
now chilled surface of these plains, giving to the central 
belt the norther. 

Climatically, then, the central belt shows less moisture 


20 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH . 


than the northern, an absence of summer rains, a dry, 
stimulating summer air, often marked by excessive heat 
—with, however, a cool, foggy coast. 

Agriculturally, it is the home of the wheat, the barley, 
but not, except in certain warmer portions, of the corn; 
it grows the apple, the pear, the plum, the peach, the 
cherry, the currant, and with these the fig of southern 
Europe. 

In a few sheltered spots in the foothills the orange 
and lemon have been grown for many years, but not in 
sufficient quantities to become an article of much sale 
in the markets. The vine finds a congenial home in qll 
the interior, and through the coast counties, except in 
some of the more exposed localities. All the vegetables 
of the temperate zone are found. Herbage is annual, 
having its season of growth during the winter, drying up 
in the summer. It is a rich, fertile land, comparing with 
central and western France, but with less severe cold 
during the winter. It will be made to support a dense 
population, rather by agriculture than by manufactures 
or commerce. 

Commercially, the central belt is less fortunately lo¬ 
cated than either the northern or the southern. It has 
back of it the longest lines of land carriage across the con¬ 
tinent, the distance from San Francisco to New York be¬ 
ing in the direct line twenty-five hundred miles, while from 
Puget Sound to ship navigation on the lakes is only fif¬ 
teen hundred miles, and from Fos Angeles or San Diego 
to tide-water on the Gulf of Mexico is only thirteen 
hundred miles. It has also back of it the highest grades 
and the heaviest snows of all the various transcontinental 
lines, for both the Sierra and the Rocky Mountains are 
highest in their central part. The Northern Pacific 
crosses the Cascade Range at an elevation of 3,980 feet, 
the Rocky Mountains at 5,873 feet. The Central and 
Union Pacific line from San Francisco crosses the Sierra 


CL IMA L'OLOG Y. 


21 


at an elevation of 7,017 feet, and the Rocky Mountains 
at some 8,242 feet. Yet the Southern Pacific line from 
Los Angeles to the Gulf crosses the Sierra at an elevation 
of only 2,560 feet, and the Rocky Mountain chain at 4,614 
feet, and is practically south of the snow line. 

The commercial supremacy which San Francisco, as 
the metropolis of the central belt, secured in the early 
days through the first rush of population to the mines of 
that region, is already passing away, the northern and 
notably the southern belts having developed trade cen¬ 
ters of their own, and having now the commercial advan¬ 
tages which come of shorter lines, lower grades, and 
lighter snows, and also of productive interior routes 
across the continent, the central belt having behind it the 
most arid and barren portion of the great inland plateau. 

In healthfulness, this central belt ranks, as in climate, 
with central France, but having many advantages arising 
from the milder winter and the dry summer. It will be 
the home of a healthy, vigorous race; yet to the invalid 
its coast winds have a harshness which is keenly felt. 

For certain seasons, there are localities in the foothills 
of both the Coast Range and the Sierra which could 
hardly be bettered. The interior valleys show some ma¬ 
laria, certain portions decidedly so. Shut off as they are 
from the force of the ocean winds, the effect of the exten¬ 
sive irrigation, which is becoming a necessity, upon the 
development of malaria, is an open question. The coast 
and the coast valleys are almost entirely free from it. 
Apart from these sections which develop malaria, there 
can scarcely be said to be endemic diseases. I he keen 
winds of the coast bring with them somewhat of neu¬ 
ralgias, subacute rheumatism, catarrhs, and some pneu¬ 
monia, pleurisy, and bronchitis. The interior is quite 
free from them. 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


22 


THE INTERIOR BELT OR PLATEAU. 

Geographically and climatically, the Rocky Mountain 
range is ordinarily spoken of as the dividing line or ridge 
of the continent. There are reasons why it should be so 
considered. Under the name of the Andes in South 
America, the Sierra Madre in Mexico, and the Rocky 
Mountains in North America, it is the one continuous 
range which reaches from extremity to extremity of the 
continent in a practically unbroken chain. 

East of it, all drainage is into the Atlantic and its con¬ 
necting waters; west of it, into the Pacific and its connect¬ 
ing waters. At its east and west bases lie two great in¬ 
terior valleys. 

They present some striking analogies. Each is sepa¬ 
rated from the ocean by a double coast system of moun¬ 
tains—the eastern by the Alleghanies and the Blue 
Ridge, the western by the Sierra and the Coast Range. 

Each extends upon the north and the south to the 
waters of the sea, with no well-marked transverse range 
of mountains to break the long sweep of the ocean winds. 
Each also subdivides its watershed into three distinct por¬ 
tions, an upland central basin and two sloping plains fac¬ 
ing respectively northward and southward to the sea. 
Each drains its southern plain by a great southward¬ 
flowing river, and each of these enters the ocean, not 
directly, but through a connecting gulf—the Mississippi 
by the Gulf of Mexico, the Colorado by the Gulf of Cali¬ 
fornia. Each has, or has had, in its central basin a great 
system of inland seas, and each drains its central basin by 
a large transverse river entering the ocean directly—the 
eastern by the St. Lawrence, the western by the Colum¬ 
bia. Each has upon the extreme north another great 
river draining its northern slope—the eastern valley hav¬ 
ing the Mackenzie, the western the Yukon; and here also, 
despite an apparent break in the analogy, it still in reality 


CLIAIA TO LOG Y. 


23 


bolds true, for while the Mackenzie empties into the At¬ 
lantic indirectly by the line of the Polar Sea, and the 
Yukon apparently directly into the Pacific in that portion 
called the Behring Sea, yet in reality this sea, from its 
walling off by the long chain of the Aleutians, and by the 
Arctic change which comes to its shores north of these 
islands, belongs climatically with the polar rather than 
with the Pacific waters. 

Both northern slopes are much alike. Each lies open 
to the cold polar winds; each has a harsh, inhospitable 
climate; each has a moderate rainfall; and each is but 
little known. 

These are the analogies. They are largely geographic¬ 
al and topographical. Now begin the divergencies. 
They are largely climatic. The central basin and the 
southern slope of the interior valley lying at the east base 
of the Rocky Mountains belong with the great, well-wa¬ 
tered, fertile river-valley systems of the world. Of such 
is the valley of the Amazon, of the Rio de la Plata, of the 
Congo, of the Ganges, of the Yang-tse-Iviang. They 
are, by the mere working of climatic laws, the natural 
home of a non-migrating population, and the seat of a 
fixed and settled civilization. 

The central basin of the interior valley upon the west 
of the Rocky Mountains is in many respects the opposite 
of this. It belongs rather with the great arid uplands 
of the world. Only central Asia has its counterpart. 

Like the uplands of Asia north of the Himalayas, its 
rain winds come to it wrung almost dry of their moisture 
bv the high mountains which they must first cross. Then, 
too, the elevation, with its attendant rarefaction of at¬ 
mosphere, leads to a rapid evaporation which desiccates 
the soil and stints vegetable life. It is the basin of that 
western system of inland seas, twin to the five Great Lakes 
of the eastern upland, but which, unlike them, dried up 
with some far-reaching change of climate in the ages long 


24 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


past; only wave marks upon the desolate mountain sides 
and the surf-worn pebbles of old beach lines tell of the 
waters which once covered the broad plains—these, and 
the salt, and the alkali, and worn sea shells blown in the 
drifting sands, and the whitened bones of old marine 
monsters, and the silence, and the desolation. 

The basin of this old inland sea, or seas—for no doubt 
it was an irregular chain rather than one body—included 
much of Utah and Nevada, portions of eastern Oregon 
and southern Idaho, and possibly some small portion of 
northwestern Arizona. The southern rim was probably 
that uplifted plateau through which, for four hundred 
miles, the waters of the Colorado force their way in the 
depths of the Grand Canon. The northern rim might 
have been some of the low ranges about the headwaters 
of the South Fork of the Columbia. 

Upon the map its southern boundary would be lined 
by the thirty-sixth and its northern by the forty-third 
parallels of latitude. It is the portion of the inland pla¬ 
teau corresponding to the central climatic belt as de¬ 
scribed upon the Pacific coast. 

This basin of the interior valley has an elevation above 
the sea of from four to five thousand feet. A portion of 
its area is now drained by the head waters of the Colo¬ 
rado and its tributaries, a portion by the South Fork of 
the Columbia, and a portion has no outlet to the sea, but 
the waters of its streams are lost in the sands, or form 
shallow salty lakes, which maintain an unequal struggle 
with the rapid evaporation. 

The southern slope of this interior valley includes 
Arizona and that portion of Southern California lying 
east of the Sierra. From an elevation of five or six thou¬ 
sand feet in the mountains of northern Arizona it drops 
gradually to two or three thousand in the upland valleys 
of central Arizona and upon the Mojave Desert, and 
down to the sea level as it approaches the Gulf of Cali- 


CUM A TO LOG Y. 


25 

fornia, passing even to several hundred feet below the 
sea in the basin of the Colorado Desert. 

The Colorado River, which for four hundred miles 
had flowed through the Grand Canon at a depth of from 
four to five thousand feet below the plateau, now emerges 
upon the level of the open country, while the rivers from 
the mountains of eastern Arizona make well-defined 
streams running through fertile alluvial valleys, which at 
intervals widen out into broad plains. 

The salt and the alkali of the central basin grow less 
noticeable under the better drainage of well-defined river 
systems reaching the sea. 

Climate. 

The central basin and the southern slope of this west¬ 
ern interior plain of the continent may be best described 
climatically together, noting differences when found. In 
temperature the winters of the central basin and of the 
mountains of the southern slope are much like corre¬ 
sponding latitudes and elevations east of the Rocky 
Mountains—cold and harsh, with snows instead of rain. 
The winters of the plains of the southern slope are mild 
and pleasant. The summer temperature is high, often 
reaching ioo° to no° in the heat of the day, but with an 
atmosphere so dry that the heat is not oppressive. Spring 
and autumn give the perfection of an interior upland 
climate, especially in the settled weather of the southern 
slope. The spring months of this slope with the warm 
yet not hot days, and the gorgeous coloring of the strange 
desert plants as they burst into bloom, have a charm 
never to be forgotten by one who has lived the life of the 
plains. 

The annual precipitation is from twelve to sixteen 
inches, in the central basin, and the mountains and plains 
of the southern slope, diminishing to four or five inches 


26 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


as the level of the Gulf is reached in southwestern Ari¬ 
zona. The division into a wet and a dry season is not so 
clearly marked as upon the corresponding portion of the 
Pacific coast. There are two seasons of precipitation to 
each year, midwinter and midsummer, with threatenings 
of rain and often light showers through the intervening 
months. It seems to be climatically a kind of battle 
ground between the fixed wet and dry seasons of the 
coast and the all-the-year rains of the country east of the 
Rocky Mountains. It probably feels the effect of the 
edge of the Gulf currents which may readily cross the low 
elevations of those mountains in this part of their course. 

Ethnologically, it is by natural laws, like similar 
regions elsewhere in the world, the home of the nomad, 
where man becomes migratory in character, traveling 
with his ffocks and herds in search of fresh food as the 
scanty herbage of one spot becomes exhausted. 

Yet this western interior valley of the continent has 
in it, especially upon that southern slope which includes 
Arizona and the region about the headwaters of the Gulf 
of California, infinite possibilities of development, and 
the capacity for sustaining a large population and a set¬ 
tled and well-ordered civilization. The traces of old irri¬ 
gating canals, leading from the rivers out over the deep- 
soiled plains of central Arizona, show that the land once 
had such a population. With the more skillfully planned 
irrigating works of modern science, and the greater capi¬ 
tal available, it will do this again, but on a much vaster 
scale. 

The central basin, which includes Utah and a portion 
of Nevada, has less possibility of such development; the 
climate, owing to the greater elevation, is more rigorous; 
the drying up of the old inland sea, and the defective 
surface drainage, have left the soil much more strongly 
impregnated with salt and alkali; and the water courses 
are small and often deeply sunk in canons below the 


CUM A TO LOG V. 


27 


level of the surrounding- country. Agriculture here must 
be in isolated spots, with the broad stretches of desert 
between. 

But upon the southern slope, that portion including 
Arizona and the regions about the Gulf, all this is 
changed. The climate, while hot in midsummer, is but 
little more so than in the basin farther north, while the 
winters are free from harshness. While the rainfall, like 
that of the central basin, is insufficient to mature crops 
at any season unassisted by irrigation, yet the water-sup¬ 
ply for irrigation is abundant and unfailing, and the great 
river valleys, and the plains bordering them, lie in the 
best possible shape for irrigation. 

Two great valleys will be the especial centers of the 
future development. The Colorado River, one of the 
six great rivers of North America, after draining the 
west slope of the Rocky Mountains through Wyoming 
and Colorado, and that portion of Utah east of the Wah- 
satch Range, emerges from the mouth of the Grand 
Canon as a broad, navigable river, to flow for four hun¬ 
dred and fifty miles more through a rich alluvial valley, 
before entering the head of the Gulf of California. At 
its lower end this valley broadens out and merges into 
a great alluvial plain of hundreds of square miles about 
the head of the gulf, and extending off into the Colorado 
Desert. 

The land in this valley system which may be irrigated 
and made productive probably amounts to several thou¬ 
sand square miles, and, for sugar cane and other semi¬ 
tropic agricultural products, has probably no equal in 
North America. The river which is to water this region 
is at its flood with the melting of the Rocky Mountain 
snows in midsummer, when the needs of irrigation would 
be greatest. At the time of the summer floods the back¬ 
water from the river flows in a broad stream, called New 
River, at one point down the long slope into the Colorado 


28 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


Desert, which is here below the level of the sea, thus giv¬ 
ing a small section of land a wetting for a few days. In 
the summer of 1868 the writer crossed this stream sixty 
miles back from the main river, and passed through fields 
of a species of wild hemp ten and twelve feet in height, the 
growth of the one flooding. 

Sixty miles above the mouth of the Colorado, at 
Yuma, it receives from the east as tributary the Gila 
River. This is also a broad, but not navigable river, 
which—draining the mountains of eastern Arizona and 
a portion of New Mexico, and, like the Colorado, having 
a midsummer flood—flows for three hundred miles di¬ 
rectly westward across the middle of Arizona, having 
also a wide alluvial valley of the most fertile soil. From 
both north and south it receives tributaries which trav¬ 
erse similar long valleys, or rather from their extent to 
be spoken of as plains, which are of like fertility with the 
valley of the Gila. It is in these plains that the most ex¬ 
tensive traces of the irrigating canals of some prehistoric 
race are to be found. 

Already large settlements have been made in the val¬ 
ley of the Salt, the Gila, and their tributaries, and exten¬ 
sive systems of irrigation have been planned and carried 
out. It is only a question of time when the valleys of the 
Colorado, the Salt, and the Gila, and their tributaries, will 
support a population of millions, and rival the valley of the 
Nile in productive capacity. Besides sugar cane and cot¬ 
ton, which would no doubt do well, these valleys are the 
home of the wheat, corn, the melon, the vine, and the fig. 

Besides these larger valleys, the mountains of north¬ 
ern and eastern Arizona are dotted with smaller valleys 
where from the elevation the rainfall is sufficient to pro¬ 
duce crops of grain, and in which, and upon the adjacent 
uplands, are some of the richest grazing lands of the 
West. This is already becoming a noted cattle country. 
While upon scouts in i 867-’68, the writer passed through 


CUM A TO LOG Y. 


2 9 


many of these smaller valleys where the natural growth of 
grass was more luxuriant than in any Ohio valley 
meadow. The mountains were covered with a growth 
of pine, oak, and black walnut. 

This southern slope of the western interior valley lies 
opposite the southern climatic belt upon the coast. 

In healthfulness it ranks with the desert interiors of 
the world. Practically free from endemic diseases, ex¬ 
cept in some low and badly-drained valleys which have 
a certain amount of malaria, its value for tuberculous af¬ 
fections is only beginning to be appreciated. 

The central basin, with its harsher winter climate, 
while markedly salubrious in many respects, shows more 
of a tendency to the development of inflammatory affec¬ 
tions of the lungs and air passages. 


THE SOUTHERN BELT. 

At Point Conception, in latitude 34.30°, the Pacific 
coast, for the first time in its long course from Alaska 
southward, makes a decided change. Abandoning the 
general east-of-south direction, which it has held for two 
thousand miles, it now turns and bears off almost due 
east. Rounding the point, all at once the helm of the 
southward-bound steamer is put hard a-port, and, leav¬ 
ing behind her a foamy wake which is almost a segment 
of a circle, her prow turns toward the sunrise. 

The writer vividly remembers, after all these years, 
his first trip down the coast, when it was, as yet, all new 
and strange to him. As we rounded the point at the 
lighthouse, and entered the Santa Barbara Channel, al¬ 
most in a ship’s length we had run out of the fog and had 
entered into the sunshine. The cold north wind, which 
had been whistling through the rigging and chasing 11s 
down the coast for three hundred miles, died away. The 
rough sea calmed to a glassy swell. And as we sailed on, 


9 


30 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH 


hour after hour, over a summer sea, I realized that I had 
entered into that Southern California of which I had 
heard. What seemed to me then almost, like the work¬ 
ing of a magician’s spell, is now, after these years of cli¬ 
matic investigation, no longer magic, but only the work¬ 
ing out of natural laws. 

With the change in the direction of the coast line come 
other changes. 

The Sierra, which, from Alaska south, follows the gen¬ 
eral trend of the coast, turns also from its northerly and 
southerly course, and now, as a great transverse range, 
runs directly eastward, walling in the country from the 
north, and then, turning southward again with a great 
curve, walls it in again upon the east. 

The land which in northern California faced off west¬ 
ward to the sea, now faces southward toward the sun. 

The Kuro Siwo, which, from the Aleutian Islands 
south along the coast of Alaska, of British Columbia, of 
Washington, of Oregon, and of northern California, 
hugged the shore line closely, is now shot clear of the 
land by the prominence of the cape, and with the sharp 
turn of the coast eastward never approaches the shore 
line closely again. 

This separation of the Alaskan current from the land 
is still further helped by the presence of a long chain of 
islands which, beginning with the Island of San Miguel, 
just south of Point Conception, follows the coast at a 
varying distance of from twenty-five to fifty miles as far 
south as the Lower California line, and incloses a shel¬ 
tered and comparatively shoal channel. Within this 
channel, instead of the cold waters of the northern cur¬ 
rent, is a slight return current of warmer water flowing 
up the coast from the south. 

With the change in the direction of the coast comes a 
change also in the character of the interior. The type of 
the central belt, as already shown, was a double mountain 


CUM A TO LOG V. 


31 


range, the Sierra and the Coast, including between them, 
and almost entirely shut in from the sea, the Sacramen- 
to-San Joaquin plain, which contained the greater por¬ 
tion of the agricultural land of that belt. 

The same general type is continued in Southern Cali¬ 
fornia, but with a marked-modification. The Sierra still 
continues to wall in the country from that great arid up¬ 
land which makes the heart of the continent, only chang¬ 
ing its direction; but on the other side the Coast Range 
no longer continues to shut it off so completely from the 
sea. This Coast Range begins to break down, and at 
times entirely disappears, leaving the whole interior more 
open to the sea. This interior plain in Southern Cali¬ 
fornia is made up of the long reach which includes the 
San Fernando Valley, the Pasadena country, the valley 
of the San Gabriel River, the Whittier foothills, the Po¬ 
mona and Ontario uplands, the valley of the Santa Ana 
River, in which lie Colton, the San Bernardino country, 
and Riverside, and then the long plains of the San Jacin¬ 
to River southward. Unlike the inland plain of northern 
California, it is very irregular in outline, branching out in 
many directions, and often merging, almost insensibly, 
into rolling upland mesas. This plain, with its irregular 
windings, is about two hundred miles in length, with a 
width varying from fifteen to thirty miles. It is smaller 
than the corresponding interior valley of northern Cali¬ 
fornia, but the reverse is the case with regard to the coast 
plain. Instead of the narrow rim which makes the ocean 
frontage outside of the Coast Range in the northern por¬ 
tion of the State, in Southern California an extensive plain 
faces the sea, having a length of about a hundred and 
fifty miles, and a depth varying from fifteen to twenty- 
five miles. This does not include the long valley of the 
Santa Clara and San Buenaventura Rivers, which fronts 
on the ocean for some thirty miles, with a depth of about 
seventy-five, nor the Santa Barbara plains. Between this 


32 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 

% 

coast plain and the long interior valley, the Coast Range 
of mountains, instead of the continuous chain which it 
presents in northern California, is broken, and, opposite 
the Los Angeles plains, for a space entirely disappears. 
The whole country—interior valley system as well as 
coast plains—becomes thus a great open coast land fac¬ 
ing the south, and with the high Sierra for a background. 

The area of the plains of Southern California is really 
largely increased over their apparent size by the rolling, 
hilly uplands into which, in many directions, they merge. 
This is especially the case in the country which lies be¬ 
tween the San Fernando Valley and the lower Santa 
Clara Valley, and also in the great upland which rises 
from San Jacinto toward the south in San Diego County. 
These uplands have a rich, deep soil, and are well watered 
by numerous small streams. 

The Sierra, which, north of the so-called Mojave Des¬ 
ert, makes a great curve westward around the south end 
of the San Joaquin plain of the central belt, turns south¬ 
ward again opposite Santa Barbara and Ventura Coun¬ 
ties, and, doubling back upon its course, walls in the west 
end of the desert, then, turning directly eastward, sepa¬ 
rates the desert from the Los Angeles and San Bernardi¬ 
no plains. Turning southward again, it stands as a wall 
between the Colorado Desert and that portion of South¬ 
ern California lying west of its base. The range varies 
in height from five to seven thousand feet, with peaks 
reaching from eight to eleven thousand feet. While 
maintaining this great elevation it yet develops one fea¬ 
ture which it does not possess opposite the central belt. 
It breaks down at several points into low passes between 
the coast and the interior of the continent. The pass by 
which the Central Pacific, on its way eastward from San 
Francisco, crosses the Sierra is, as before given, 7,017 
feet in elevation. Yet the Soledad Pass by which the 
Southern Pacific crosses the Sierra in Southern Cali- 


CUM A TO LOG V. 


33 


fornia is only 2,822 feet; the Cajon Pass by which the 
Atchison and Topeka enters is about the same height; 
and the San Gorgonio Pass, by which the Southern Pa¬ 
cific crosses on the road to Galveston and New Orleans, 
is only 2,560 feet above the sea. There are numerous 
other comparatively low passes through the Sierra at the 
west end of the Mojave Desert, leading toward the sea 
in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, and also through 
the range south of Santa Gorgonio. These passes 
through the southern Sierra have a marked influence, 
not only upon the climate of the coast portions of South¬ 
ern California, but also upon that of the deserts lying at 
the east base of the Sierra. Their influence upon the fu¬ 
ture trade development of the coast will be noted under 
a different heading. 

The Mojave Desert, lying beyond those passes which 
open northward, has an area of several thousand square 
miles, with an elevation above the sea of some two thou¬ 
sand feet. The Colorado Desert, which lies opposite the 
passes leading eastward, is somewhat less in area, and has 
a portion of its surface three hundred and fifty feet below 
the level of the sea. 

The channel islands are eight in number, stretching 
along the coast for a hundred and fifty miles. Six of 
these are of considerable size, varying from twelve to 
twenty-five miles in length and from five to ten miles in 
width. 

Rainfall. 

The division of the year into a wet and a dry season is 
found in the central Pacific belt, and applies also to the 
southern belt. The counter-trades of the North Pacific 
coast, following the sun southward in the autumn, reach 
the coast of Southern California shortly after the rains 
have begun in the northern portion of the State. 

The first rain may come anywhere from the middle 
4 


34 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


of October until the middle of November. A south wind 
comes in from the sea; clouds bank up along the south¬ 
ern horizon, and then about the mountain tops, and 
broken, rainy weather, lasting for several days, follows, 
during which time the precipitation amounts to from 
two to three inches. 

The first rain may also give snow in the mountains, 
but not always, nor to any great depth. 

After three or four weeks of clear, pleasant weather, 
comes another rain, much like the first, and this time gen¬ 
erally with a decided snowfall in the mountains, as the 
temperature is now showing the winter coolness. 

These rains wash the atmosphere clear of haze and 
dust, and it now begins to display the remarkable trans¬ 
parency for which the winters of Southern California are 
noted. Mountains a hundred miles away seem only dis¬ 
tant a morning’s ride. 

With the coming of the rains the land begins to turn 
green after the repose of the rainless summer, and soon 
hills and plains are covered with the richest verdure. 
There is a peculiar and, to the eye of the writer, exceed¬ 
ingly pleasant shade to the green of the annual vegetation 
of the Pacific coast. Without professing to be an expert 
in the description of color, he would speak of it as a min¬ 
gling of yellow, producing a light yellow-green rather 
than the darker blue-greens of vegetation upon the At¬ 
lantic coast. 

About the latter part of December may be expected 
one of the heavy winter storms. Setting in with a strong 
south wind from the sea, rain begins to fall, and for a week 
or ten days more or less constant cloudiness, with rain a 
portion of each twenty-four hours, will be the rule. The 
rainfall is apt to be limited to the afternoon and night, 
leaving the morning free. This storm may give from six 
to eight inches of rain. In the mountains it is precipi¬ 
tated in the form of heavy snow, the tall peaks and the 


CUM A TO LOG V. 


35 

continuous range being clad in white from the highest 
crest almost to the level of the open plain. 

January is generally a month of clear skies. To many 
persons this is the pleasantest portion of the year. An 
atmosphere absolutely freed from all impurities, cool, and 
yet free from all harshness, so that it comes to the lungs 
like the exhilaration of the purest ether; a warm sun flood¬ 
ing from morning to night plains that have the green of 
the early spring of other lands; nights cool enough for 
a light frost on the lowlands; and the mountains, as far as 
the eve can reach, a great uplifted bank of the purest 
white. The writer remembers yet, after twenty years, his 
first glimpse of the land as he lay, all one long, sunny, 
January morning, on the steamer at the San Pedro an¬ 
chorage. 

In February another storm, like that of December, 
may be expected; then scattering rains, of two or three 
days’ duration, at intervals of several weeks, through 
March and April, and the rainy season is over. 

A mistaken impression prevails, even among people 
on the northern Pacific coast, who are sometimes most 
ignorant as to the amount of rainfall in Southern Cali¬ 
fornia, and the reason for the mistake is very apparent. 
The general law of the rainfall over the coast is of a stead¬ 
ily diminishing precipitation as one goes southward. 
Thus, the rainfall at Sitka is no inches per annum; at 
Portland, Oregon, 53 inches; at San Francisco, 24 inches; 
at Visalia, 10.46 inches. The natural inference would be 
that, as Southern California lies still farther south, the 
rainfall would be proportionately still less. 

But now comes in play the working of another law, 
to which allusion was made in speaking of certain val¬ 
leys in northern California which face fairly toward the 
south—the increased rainfall which results from a direct 
southern exposure with a high background. The coast 
of northern California, with its direction of slightly east 


36 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


of south, faces at an acute angle toward the winter rain 
current, and only receives a portion of its force, while its 
mountain ranges, with the same general trend, receive 
the current at a slant. The full force of the rain current 
is thus only partly received by northern California, while 
the mountains act only imperfectly as condensers. 

As an illustration of the working of the law may be 
given the valleys about the Bay of San Francisco. Thus, 
Sonoma Valley, facing the south, receives a rainfall nearly 
one half greater than Santa Clara Valley, only a few miles 
across the bay which faces toward the north. The work¬ 
ing of the same law is seen in the excessive rainfall about 
Shasta, at the northern end of the Sacramento Valley. 

It is the working of this second law which, in South¬ 
ern California, brings the rainfall up again to the average 
of places much farther north. The average of the rain¬ 
falls at Los Angeles, running through a series of years, 
varies but little from that of Sacramento, and yet they are 
separated by four hundred miles in the north and south 
line, while Visalia, lying midway between, has, under the 
working of the general coast law, a rainfall of but little 
more than half as much. 

In Southern California, owing to the sharp turn east¬ 
ward made by the coast and the mountains, the whole 
country faces at a right angle to the winter rain currents 
from the south, while the broad coast plain upon the sea, 
and the breaking down of the Coast Range as before de¬ 
scribed, admit the full sweep of the storm. Then comes 
the high Sierra, which makes the background of the coun¬ 
try, standing like a huge wall directly across the line of 
the rain current to condense and wring out of it the full¬ 
est amount of moisture before it scales the rugged heights, 
and passes on to the inland plateau. 

The annual average rainfall at Los Angeles is eight¬ 
een inches along the base of the mountains, back of 
the plains, it is from thirty to forty inches. No record 


CL/A/A TO LOG Y. 


37 

lias been kept farther up in the mountains, so that the 
precipitation of rain and snow is not known. 

Fogs. 

In common with the whole Pacific coast the shore 
line of Southern California has, from May to September, 
the nigdit fog. This fog comes rolling in from the sea 
about sunset, or two or three hours later, and disappears 
shortly after sunrise. It is free from the chill and harsh¬ 
ness of the fog on the colder upper coast, and is a re¬ 
freshing feature to the climate, while its effect upon vege¬ 
tation is very marked. It is a virtual atmospheric pro¬ 
longation of the rainy season for the immediate coast. 
It only extends a few miles inland, so that persons who 
dislike the moist air live farther from the sea. 

Atmospheric Humidity. 

The question of the amount of invisible moisture in 
the air, apart from the visible moisture which comes in the 
shape of rain or fog, what is technically known as at¬ 
mospheric humidity, is an important one for the transient 
invalid tourist as well as for certain types of constitution 
among more permanent residents in a country. The va¬ 
riations in humidity at a few points in the United States 
may be shown by reference to the Reports of the United 
States Signal Service. At New York it is 72 per cent; 
at Salt Lake, 44; at San Francisco, 76. On a more south¬ 
ern line, it is in Florida an average of 75; at New Orleans, 
79; at Yuma, 43; at Los Angeles, 68; at San Diego, 71. 

In portions of Southern California farther away from 
the sea, as in the foothills, in the San Fernando Valley, 
or any portion of what was described as the interior coast 
valley of Southern California, the per cent would probably 
drop to 60; while upon the Mojave upland or in the Colo¬ 
rado Desert it would average about as at Yuma, or even 


38 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


drier. At no other point in the United States is so great 
a range in humidity to be found within a comparatively 
limited area as in Southern California, as all of these va¬ 
riations are to be reached by rail within three hours’ ride. 
This fact has proved of exceeding importance in the man¬ 
agement of the various shades of invalidism, as one has at 
his command, without the fatigue of a long journey, his 
choice of the cool, damp air of the sea, or the warm, dry 
air of the interior, a choice only to be found elsewhere by 
traveling thousands of miles. 


Sunshine. 

Following the same lines across the continent for com¬ 
parison, the average number of cloudy days per year is 
found to be at New York, 119; at Salt Lake, 88; at San 
Francisco, 79. On the more southern line, average for 
Florida, 51; at New Orleans, 97; at Yuma, 14; at Los 
Angeles, 51; at San Diego, 85. The average through the 
inner valleys of Southern California, away from the imme¬ 
diate vicinity of the sea, would probably be about 40, 
while upon the Mojave or in the Colorado Desert it would 
rate with Yuma. 


Winds. 

The feature which most impresses the observer upon 
the Pacific coast in his study of the winds is their regular- 
ity. He feels that while the wind may blow “where it 
listeth,” yet there is a law to the listing. He soon learns 
that “fickle as the winds” is a saying which here loses its 
force. He knows that at certain seasons there will be a 
prevalence of wind from a certain cpiarter, and that at a 
certain time of each day the wind will rise. He knows 
that a persistence of the wind from a certain quarter will 
bring a very moist atmosphere and rain, while the cur¬ 
rent from another quarter as surely means clear, cool 


CL/A/A TO LOGY. 


39 


weather, with a moderately humid atmosphere; and from 
yet another quarter means an exceedingly dry atmos¬ 
phere, cold in winter, hot in summer. 

Probably in no other portion of the world does cli¬ 
matology approach more nearly to the standing of an 
exact science than upon the Pacific coast. One gets, 
as it were, behind the scenes, and sees how Nature man¬ 
ages her wheels and pulleys in the ever-shifting pano¬ 
rama of the seasons. 

While the whole Pacific coast has much less really 
calm weather than the Atlantic coast, yet the records 
of the Signal Service show that the total wind movement 
is less; in other words, in a given length of time there are 
more hours of wind, but of less velocity. It is a region 
of more continuous wind currents, but of a milder char¬ 
acter. The brisk sea breeze is diurnal; the gale rare; the 
hurricane and the cyclone unknown. 

The winds may be classified into the trades and the 
counter-trades, which regulate the seasons; 

The land and sea breeze, which regulate the daily 
temperature; and 

The norther, which may come either winter or sum¬ 
mer, and which is rather a law unto itself. 

The working of the trades and the counter-trades has 
already been explained in this article, but it may not be 
amiss to repeat somewhat. 

The counter-trade is an on-shore rain wind from the 
Pacific, which persists winter and summer upon the coast 
from Oregon northward, growing heavier with the ad¬ 
vance northward, until its maximum force and rainfall 
are found in southern Alaska. Farther northward it 
seems to lose its force, and the rainfall diminishes again. 

The northeast trade-wind is an off-shore, dry current, 
found in the daytime more in the upper regions of the at¬ 
mosphere, passing out to sea above the lower stratum of 
on-shore sea breeze, dropping down at night in all proba- 


40 


CALIFORNIA OF TIIE SOUTH . 


bility nearer the earth, and adding force to the off-shore 
night land breeze. If proof were needed in addition to 
the well-known law of the trade-winds, of its persistence in 
the daytime, it is shown by the columns of smoke which 
often, during mountain fires, ascend some thousands of 
feet with a sharp slant from the ocean, and then turn and 
float horizontally out to sea. The same fact is shown 
by the showers of ashes and cinders which will at times 
drop down by the seaside, falling through the on-shore 
sea breeze when the fires which must have produced them 
are far inland in the mountains. 

This dry, off-shore trade-wind is during most of the 
year the prevailing wind of the southern portion of the 
peninsula of Lower California, hence the almost rainless 
character of that climate. 

Along that portion of the coast lying between the all- 
the-year rainy, on-shore, counter-trades of the North Pa¬ 
cific, and the almost all-the-year off-shore and rainless 
northeast trades of the peninsula, the winds follow the sun 
in its annual changes, the dry trade advancing north¬ 
ward, and the rainy counter-trade retreating before it in 
summer; then with the return of the sun southward in 
winter the rainless, off-shore trade-wind retreating south¬ 
ward, and the rainy counter-trade following it down the 
coast. Hence, the regular semi-annual alternation of these 
two great wind currents, and hence, also, the regular al¬ 
ternation to this portion of the coast, as before shown, 
of a wet and a dry season. 

The daily sea breeze, which is characteristic more 
especially of the California portion of the Pacific coast, 
and which is caused, as before shown, by the heating up 
of the land in the interior plains, and the consequent rare¬ 
faction and rising of the air, with the rushing in of the 
cooler and heavier current from the sea to replace the 
ascending column—this sea breeze as found in Southern 
California has some marked differences when contrasted 


CL/A/A TO LOG Y. 


41 


with the breeze as found in northern California. It is 
less violent, and it is free from the harshness which char¬ 
acterizes it farther north; it also reaches more generally 
throughout the interior. The lessened violence is ac¬ 
counted for by two facts, the more open character of the 
country, and the greater proportionate area of the sea 
plains as compared with the interior valleys. In north¬ 
ern California the shore line is closely followed by the 
Coast Range of mountains. This range averages several 
thousand feet in height, with only here and there a break 
or a pass to the interior. The current of cool ocean air, 
rushing in from the sea to that heated interior, finds its 
way through these breaks, and like the current of a river 
—for this is only an aerial river, and observes the same 
laws—carries the violence of its narrowed current far in¬ 
land before the contracted volume dissipates itself in a 
gentler flow. Hence the violent winds of many points 
upon the coast of northern California, the Golden Gate 
at San Francisco being a well-known instance. The lack 
of a coast plain exterior to this Coast Range of mountains 
also has its effect, as the in-rushing current is not thus 
tempered and robbed of a portion of its violence before 
reaching the breaks in the range. 

In Southern California, on the contrary, a broad ocean 
plain first receives the ocean wind and tempers it as it 
comes from the sea; then instead of having to make its 
way through a few narrow passes in the Coast Range to 
reach the interior, it finds that range broken down, and at 
times, as for a number of miles eastward from the city of 
Los Angeles, disappearing entirely. This change in the 
character of the Coast Range allows of a broad, free en¬ 
trance for the wind to the interior, and the broader cur¬ 
rent, like the broader channel to a river, means a gentler 
current. 

This same fact of the broader inlet for the sea breeze 
through the Coast Range in Southern California explains 


42 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


its better distribution throughout the interior than in the 
northern portion of the State. Instead of the violent in- 
rushing current sweeping by those portions not lying di¬ 
rectly in its path, and leaving upon either side, and behind 
the adjacent mountains and hills, a hot, stagnant air, the 
gentler, broader inflow eddies around each projecting 
point, and into each connecting valley, cooling all with its 
freshness. 

The lessened harshness of the Southern California 
sea breeze, apart from the influence of the broad coast 
plain, is to be accounted for also by the deflection of the 
down-coast cold current of the Kuro Siwo seaward at 
Point Conception, and the warmer inshore waters of the 
long Santa Barbara Channel over which this wind passes 
before reaching the shore. The sea breeze is thus, even 
before reaching the shore, robbed of much of the ocean 
harshness.* 

This sea breeze sets in for the season as the cool spring 
months pass by, and through the whole summer, and 
late into the autumn, by ten o'clock of each day its re¬ 
freshing influence is felt, a gentle wind blowing constantly 
until evening. Then by midnight the wind changes, and 
through the latter portion of the night and the early 
morning the land breeze blows down from the mountains, 
bringing the cool air of their high summits. This is a 
cool, dry, bracing air, unlike the wind that comes in from 
the sea. It has to it the scent of the sage lands of the 
desert. 

The norther is, owing to the topographical configura¬ 
tion of the country, less felt in Southern California than 
in the northern portion of the State. The valleys, which 
there run north and south, and so lie open their whole 


* The temperature of the sea at San Francisco is, for January, 52.i° ; 
for July, 5q°. At Long Beach, near Los Angeles, it is, for January, 60 0 ; 
for July, 68 5 0 . 



CL/A/A TOLOG Y. 


43 


length to the sweep of the wind, owing to the change 
in the trend of the coast, run east and west in Southern 
California, presenting their narrow diameter to its sweep, 
while a like change in the direction of the mountain chains 
places these great uplifted walls directly across the path¬ 
way of the wind instead of parallel to its course, as in 
northern California. While the great area of the coun¬ 
try is thus sheltered on the north, there are local excep¬ 
tions. The low passes, which have been mentioned as 
leading through the Sierra, admit here and there a stray 
sweep of the north wind, which at such points cuts across 
the plains with a channel almost as well defined as the 
banks of a river. Such wind belts, while not common, 
are yet locally well known, and are an interesting feature 
in the climatology of the country. The north wind, 
whether felt in the winter or the summer, has a dry harsh¬ 
ness peculiarly its own; and yet, apart from this harshness, 
it is not an unhealthful wind—rather, indeed, the con¬ 
trary. 

The sanitary value of these constant wind movements 
along the whole California coast can hardly be overesti¬ 
mated. The stagnant, lifeless air of the heated spells 
of the Atlantic slope or the Mississippi Valley is here an 
impossibility. 

Temperature. 

A table of temperatures must be studied very carefully 
in a comparison of different countries, or an entirely mis¬ 
taken impression may be received as to the climatic con¬ 
trasts. Thus, take the annual means alone as a basis of 
comparison. Two points may lie upon the same isother¬ 
mal line, each with a mean annual temperature of 6o°. We 
may suppose the one to have a winter temperature of 20°, 
and a summer temperature of 8o°. Its mean for the year 
would be the sum of these divided by two, or 50° for the 
year. The other might have a winter temperature of 45 0 , 


44 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


a summer of 55 0 ; its annual mean would also be 50°. Yet 
in the former locality only the hardy trees and shrubs of 
the north would survive the cold of the winter, and the 
land would be buried in ice and snow; while in summer 
the mortality tables would show frequent deaths by sun¬ 
stroke. In the latter, fuchias and geraniums would 
bloom in the door-yards the year round, and sunstroke 
would be unknown. The one is an equable climate, the 
other a climate of extremes, and yet the average is the 
same. 

In actual practice the mean of each month is taken, 
and the sum divided bv twelve to give the annual aver¬ 
age; but, to show the fallacy which may underlie the re¬ 
sult, the illustration as given above is not amiss. 

In a table of comparisons, to avoid the tedious com¬ 
parison month by month, a result sufficiently accurate 
may be obtained by giving, in addition to the mean an¬ 
nual average, the means of a typical winter and a typical 
summer month, as January and July. 

If, in addition to these, the daily range of temperature, 
derived from a comparison of the night and the day obser¬ 
vations, be given for the same months, a comparison suffi¬ 
ciently accurate for ordinary purposes will be attained. 

This daily range is important, as one climate—such, 
for instance, as that of the Mississippi Valley—may during 
the summer maintain a continuously high temperature 
night and day, allowing of no refreshing sleep to the in¬ 
valid ; while another, as at many points upon the Pacific 
coast, although showing a nominally high daily average, 
may yet have comparatively cool nights. 

The climate which is most conducive to health in the 
well, and which will prove best adapted to the restoration 
of health in the invalid, is that which, while affording the 
sunshine and the warmth of the day, and thus tempting 
to life in the open air, will yet be marked by a fall of 
temperature at night sufficiently great to admit of that 


CLIMA TO LOG Y. 


45 


refreshing sleep which comes where the protection of a 
blanket is necessary to comfort. 

1 he following table gives, from the Signal Service re¬ 
ports, the temperature statistics of a number of well- 
known points upon both sides of the continent. The 
Florida record is an average from the four stations which 
the Service maintains in that State: 



Annual 

mean. 

Average. 

Average. 

Daily 

range. 

Daily 

range. 

New York. 


January. 

July. 

January. 

July. 

5 i- 3 ° 

30.o J 

72.6° 

13.2" 

15 - 6 ° 

Salt Lake. 

5 1 • 1 

27.9 

74-4 

15.2 

25.6 

Sacramento. 

61.3 

47.6 

73-4 

18.0 

25.2 

San Francisco. 

55-7 

49-3 

58.8 

8.1 

12.7 

Florida. 

72.7 

60.7 

83-3 

15-5 

14.0 

New Orleans. 

69.4 

55-9 

83-0 

18.3 

12.8 

Yuma. 

72.0 

52.8 

91.4 

29.1 

29.4 

Los Angeles. 

60.5 

52.0 

68.2 

21.5 

28.3 

San Diego. 

60.5 

52.8 

66.9 

19.0 

14.6 


While the table shows an average of temperature for 
the coast line in Southern California, taking San Diego 
as a fair average among such points as Long Beach, San 
Pedro, Santa Monica, Ventura, and Santa Barbara, and 
for the line midway between the coast and the interior 
plains as represented by Los Angeles, yet there are many 
and well-marked variations from these averages. The 
coast points differ among themselves: some a little milder 
than the average, as San Pedro, which, while standing 
upon the seashore, is yet peculiarly sheltered from the 
ocean wind; others, through exposure to a stronger wind 
current, averaging a little colder. 

So, too, farther inland will be found low, cold soils, 
with frost sufficiently severe almost every winter to in¬ 
terfere with the culture of semi-tropic fruits; other belts 
where frost is never known, and where the tomato ripens 
its fruit every month of the year, and the banana flourish- 































CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


46 

es. Back in the sheltered foothills and in small interior 
valleys, again, are found localities where the mercury in 
the middle of a hot summer day will range up to or above 
ioo°; while across the Sierra, on the Mojave and Colo¬ 
rado Deserts, is found the dry, intense heat of the inland 
plateau. 

In the winter, among the mountains and upon the 
higher plains of the Mojave, may be found the ice and 
snows of the north-lands. 

This varied range of temperatures, within a compara¬ 
tively narrow territory, offers a wide choice to the invalid 
in his selection of a home. 


Agriculture. 

In the early days of Southern California the thought 
that it could ever become an agricultural country seems 
hardly to have entered into the minds of its scattered popu¬ 
lation of ranchcros. The land was looked upon as only 
fit for grazing. The writer well remembers hearing the 
old residents of those days gravely argue that agriculture 
could not be made to pay; and they were proving the 
sincerity of their belief by importing from abroad the 
vegetables which they had upon their tables, the flour 
for their bread—everything, in fact, but the meat from 
their flocks and herds. Potatoes came by the sack, cab¬ 
bages packed in crates, apples and other fruits by the 
box. And yet this was only twenty-five years ago; and 
now great train loads of these products, raised from the 
soil which was pronounced only fit for a cattle range, 
leave daily on all the lines of railroads for export, while 
the waters of the harbors are dotted with sea-going ships 
which fill up with cargoes of wheat, barley, wine, raisins, 
and all kinds of dried and canned fruits, for every part of 
the world. The climate, the land, and their possibilities, 
were simply not understood. 


CUM A TO LOG V. 


47 


The average American, the man whose ideas of farm¬ 
ing were formed amid the summer rains and the corn¬ 
fields of the Mississippi Valley, had to learn over again 
how to farm; and, now that he has learned the lesson, is 
growing rich on the land which was deemed compara¬ 
tively worthless. 

The early farmers had to begin their agricultural edu¬ 
cation in the new land by forgetting the word winter , and, 
instead of plowing and planting in the spring of the year, 
as they would in the East, seeing to it that their grain 
was put in with the coming of the early autumn rains. 
This lesson once thoroughly learned, no further diffi¬ 
culty was found in making grain farming a success. 

A mistaken idea has prevailed to some extent among 
people in the East that farming is only carried on in South¬ 
ern California by means of irrigation, and that without it 
crops would be a failure. 

For all small grains and winter crops irrigation is not 
employed. These are cultivated just as they are in the 
Mississippi Valley or the Atlantic States, and need only 
the regular rains of the winter and spring, or wet season, 
to mature them. Corn, however, which is a summer 
crop, planted after the rains are over, is in many locali¬ 
ties irrigated, yet in many other sections the natural mois¬ 
ture of the soil is sufficient to mature the crop without 
irrigation. Upon many of the lands, after a winter-sown 
crop, raised without irrigation, has been harvested, an¬ 
other crop is raised when the rains are over, by means of 
irrigation, and thus the land does double duty. 

In many places land will be seen which is never free 
from a growing crop from year to year, except during the 
few days when plowing for the new planting. Where 
water from the rivers is used, the sediment held in sits- 
pension constantly renews the fertility of the soil over 
which it is spread. There are sandy lands about Los 
Angeles which have now been cropped for three quarters 


43 


CALIFORNIA OF TIIE SOUTH. 


of a century, with no apparent diminution of fertility. 
Water is also used, to a certain extent, in the great or¬ 
chards and vineyards on the uplands and about the foot¬ 
hills. It is found that a limited quantity of water, given 
at the time when the fruit is swelling, makes a better 
quality, yet it must be used with discretion, as too much 
injures the quality. The tendency is, year by year, to 
the use of less water, it being found that, with thorough 
cultivation, the soil retains its moisture so well that irri¬ 
gation is, upon many of these lands, unnecessary, and 
upon others less needed. In many sections are large 
bodies of moist lowland, called by the Spanish cicncgcis, 
and extending often for miles, which are natural pasture 
lands, green all the year round. These are found to be 
especially adapted to dairying, and are with each year 
more and more devoted to that purpose. Such lands 
generally lie near the sea, and have the benefit of the 
heavy sea fogs at night through the summer, and the cool 
ocean winds during the day. The same lands are well 
adapted to the cultivation of corn and the Northern fruits, 
such as the apple and the pear. Peaches, the vine, and 
all the semi-tropical fruits do better farther back from 
the sea. The orange, the lemon, and the lime are found 
in their greatest perfection in the interior valleys and in 
the foothills which line the base of the Sierra. 

Water for irrigation is obtained from the rivers, from 
all the small mountain streams, and from artesian wells. 
Over the lowlands flowing wells are obtained at depths 
varying from seventy-five to two or three hundred feet. 
They are bored by machinery and piped with iron, and 
are quickly and cheaply made. In many of the apparently 
dry mountain ravines and canons submerged dams are 
put in at favorable points, forcing the underground flow 
of water to the surface. In others, tunnels are run at a 
slight slope until bed-rock is reached, and the stream 
tapped and brought to the surface. In other localities 


CL/A/A TO LOG Y. 


49 


extensive storage reservoirs are constructed. In the 
open valleys windmills are used by the thousands for 
pumping water for household and garden use. 

This general use of water, besides adding so immense¬ 
ly to the productive capacity, and thus to the wealth 
of the country, constitutes one of the great charms of life 
in both city and country. It gives to the farmhouse the 
piped water and all the conveniences of life which are ordi¬ 
narily found only in cities, while in city and country alike 
dooryards and lawns and flower gardens are kept green 
and fresh through the rainless summer by the liberal use 
of water. Strangers and newcomers constantly express 
surprise at the pleasant surroundings of the country 
houses. 

Under this system of cultivation and with the natural 
fertility of the soil, stimulated to the utmost by the warmth 
of the long summer, and unchecked by any severe chill 
to the winter, the productive capacity of the country and 
its power of supporting a dense population are very great; 
in fact, the area of land which a laborer can take care of 
is much smaller than in the less productive East. The 
tendency is in consequence to a more thorough subdi¬ 
vision of land. Twenty acres are—especially in the fruit 
districts—a sufficiently large area for the united labors 
of a large family, and, with ordinary prudence, they will 
live more comfortably and clear more money than on 
the large farms of the Mississippi Valley. This great 
productive capacity explains the apparently high price of 
land. 

The time is not far distant when what is distinctively 
known as Southern California will support and give 
wealth to a population of several millions. As yet, the 
country is hardly touched by agriculture—only a settle¬ 
ment here and there over the broad plains; but the influx 
is now so rapid and unceasing that all this will soon 
change. One noteworthy feature of the incoming popu- 
5 



CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


50 

lation is that it is made up almost entirely of the well-to-do 
—those who bring intelligence and money with them, 
and are prepared to improve their lands at once. An¬ 
other feature is the colony system. Large tracts of land . 
are purchased and water piped over the whole before 
they are divided and sold out; schoolhouses and churches 
are provided for, and all the conveniences and appliances 
which in other lands are found only in old settlements, 
and so the discomforts of ordinary frontier life are avoid¬ 
ed. No other portion of the Pacific coast is so well opened 
up and tapped by railroads. The various lines penetrate 
in every direction, so that the farmer has ready access to 
market, and every facility for shipping his produce. . 

Few countries yield as great a variety of products as 
Southern California. In the list may be enumerated 
wheat, barley, corn, potatoes—Irish and sweet—and all 
kinds of vegetables, melons, berries, fruits of every variety 
found in the temperate and semi-tropical zones, includ¬ 
ing, in the latter, the orange, lemon, lime, fig, and ba¬ 
nana, nuts, the vine, the olive; also honey, wool, meat, 
fish, petroleum, asphaltum, some coal, and timber. Many 
others might be mentioned, but the list given will serve 
to show the wide range. 

This wide range of products, together with the regu¬ 
larity of the yearly rainfall and the extensive systems of 
irrigation, make the country peculiarly exempt from the 
drawback of dry seasons, such as are found in manv sec¬ 
tions east of the Rocky Mountains. 

A feature to be noted in the agricultural and horticul¬ 
tural products of Southern California is the relatively 
high valuation to the bulk, and the consequent cheapness 
of placing them in the markets where consumed. Wheat 
and barley, which are bulky, take ships in our own har¬ 
bors for the ports of Europe, having to pay no railway 
charges over long lines. Corn is turned into lard and 
bacon at home, and has the whole interior of the mining 


CLIMA TO LOG Y. 


51 


Territories for a market. Fresh fruits and vegetables of 
all kinds go by the train load to Arizona and New Mexico. 
Dried and canned fruits, which are produced in large 
quantities, go directly to Europe by sea. The orange, 
the lemon, and the lime are shipped by the train load all 
over the Pacific coast, and eastward to the Territories and 
the Mississippi Valley. Raisins have the whole United 
States for a market. Wool, in excess of the consumption 
of the factories here, goes by sea to the East and to Eu¬ 
rope. Wines and brandies lade in our own ports for all 
parts of the world. Petroleum has the whole Pacific 
coast for a market, as no other point has developed it in 
paying quantities. 

The olive is just beginning to show its possibilities as 
a wealth-producer. It has been cultivated in the old mis¬ 
sion orchards for a century, but now a rapidly increasing 
acreage is devoted to its culture. So valuable is it deemed 
in southern Europe, that the kingdom of Italy alone has 
fifteen hundred square miles of solid olive orchards. 


Commercial Development. 

In the earlier days of the Pacific coast, when gold was 
the one great product, and its quest in the mines the one 
absorbing pursuit of the inrushing population, trade lines 
became fixed in certain channels. Every other industry 
of the coast was viewed only in its possible relation 10 
the mining interests. San Francisco, as the shipping 
point of the mining counties, became, by her location and 
by the rapid accumulation of capital, the commercial me¬ 
tropolis of the whole coast. Between the California of 
that day and the East lay the little-known heights of the 
Sierra and the Rocky Mountains and the long reaches of 
almost trackless desert. Instead of the railroads of to¬ 
day, were only the scattered trails of the pioneers. Trans¬ 
continental traffic was an impossibility, and the ocean 


52 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


became the highway of trade. Everything in the shape 
of imports for California came by sea to San Francisco, 
and was thence distributed by sea along the coast north 
and south. Everything to be exported was gathered in 
to her wharves by vessels plying in a coastwise trade, and 
thence reshipped for the commerce of the world. The 
merchants from all over the coast went to San Francisco 
to buy their stocks of goods. The banks of San Fran¬ 
cisco controlled the finance of the coast. Her commis¬ 
sion merchants fixed the prices of the products of the 
coast. When men spoke of the commerce of the Pacific 
slope, they meant the commerce of San Francisco. No 
other portion of the United States has ever been so 
dominated by the preponderating influence of one com¬ 
mercial center. It was an exceptional state of affairs, 
brought about by an exceptional train of circumstances, 
and could not, in the nature of things, continue indefi¬ 
nitely. 

About the year 1875 a great change set in. Hike most 
far-reaching changes in the lines of trade, men were slow 
to perceive its drift. The merchants of San Francisco 
were slow to perceive it. Even now, when the trade of 
the coast has in a measure slipped from their grasp, under 
the working of laws which must prevent it from ever re¬ 
turning, they scarcely seem to see what it all means. 

The long, undisputed monopoly had the effect which 
it always has, of narrowing business methods and sap¬ 
ping energy. They became provincial in their ways of 
business, the trade which had to come to them they 
ceased to strive for. When it 110 longer had to come to 
them, they had lost the art of striving for it, and could 
not meet the keen, wide-awake competition of business 
centers which began to reach out from the East. 

A representative of one of the leading San Francisco 
papers said recently to the writer: “There is no hope 
of a change in the business methods of San Francisco 


CLIMA TO LOG Y. 


53 

until the present generation of business men dies out, 
and new men fill their places.” 

And the end is not yet. It is only the beginning. The 
revolution was only hastened by the lack of foresight 
in San Francisco’s business men. Back of it were im¬ 
mutable laws of trade which, had San Francisco pos¬ 
sessed every energy and the keenest foresight, would 
in the end have worked out the same result—only, it 
might have been somewhat delayed. 

What are the facts in the case? 


Transcontinental Roads. 

Attention has already been called, in that portion of 
this part which was devoted to the central belt, to certain 
marked features of the various lines across the continent. 
It may not be amiss to mention them again. 

Both the Sierra and the Rocky Mountain Ranges 
gradually rise as they go northward, until their highest 
portions are found between the thirty-fifth and forty-third 
parallels. This is also the region of the highest mountain 
passes, of the deepest snows, and of the severest winter 
storms. It is the line of the greatest reach of desert, 
and is the line across the broadest portion of the conti¬ 
nent. 

Under pressure of the war, and, in fact, as a military 
measure, and with the assistance of large Government 
subsidies, the Central Pacific Railroad was pushed across 
bv this line to the Pacific coast. It is probable that even 
then the line would have been run farther south but for 
the unsettled state of the country through which it would 
have had to pass, and the possibility of its seizure by the 
Southern armies. 

Years went by, and other transcontinental lines were 
projected and built, but they did not fdllow the central 
route. Trade seeks, as a matter of economy and profit, 



54 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


the shortest lines between terminal points, the lowest 
grades, freedom from interruption by storms, and a pro¬ 
ductive tributary territory through which to pass. It did 
not find these upon the central route. It found them 
farther south. It was found cheaper to flank the Rocky 
Mountains and the Sierra rather than to cross them. And 
so the newer lines, even when starting from the East, on 
the central line, were deflected toward the south as they 
began to make the rise of the continent. 

Lines which had crossed the Rocky Mountains found 
before them the high Sierra, while southward spread the 
easy slope of the valley of the Colorado, and then the low 
passes through the Sierra to the sea. Traffic from sea 
to sea found only thirteen hundred miles from the 
wharves of Galveston to the wharves of Port Los Angeles, 
San Diego, or San Pedro, and, instead of the interior 
desert of the more northern routes, the long, fertile valley 
of the Gila. 

What has been the result? The central line of rail¬ 
road across the continent has now been finished for twen¬ 
ty years, and in all that time no second line has been built 
or even proposed over that route. The southern routes, 
on the contrary, have practically three complete lines: 
the Southern Pacific, from New Orleans and Galveston, 
to Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and San Pedro; the At¬ 
lantic and Pacific, which taps the Southern Pacific at 
Mojave; the Atchison and Topeka, which reaches the 
sea at Santa Monica, San Diego, and at Redondo, one of 
the ports of Los Angeles; and now the Union Pacific 
proposes to extend itself bv its Southern Utah branch 
southward along the easy grades of the inner plateau to 
the sea in Southern California. 

One of these roads, the Southern Pacific, after reach¬ 
ing the sea at Port Los Angeles and San Pedro, turns 
northward again; as a coast road to San Francisco. 

By thus turning southward as they make the rise of 


CLIMA TOLOG Y. 


55 


the continent, these roads escape the great elevations 
and the steep grades of both the Rocky Mountains and 
the Sierra; they escape the deep snows and the severe 
storms of the winter; they gain, owing to the sharp east¬ 
ward trend of the Pacific coast in Southern California, 
shorter lines to the sea. 

Another and very important gain is made. Instead 
of traversing for hundreds of miles the non-producing 
desert lands of the central route, which can furnish to 
them little business either in the shape of way-travel or 
way-freight, they traverse the most fertile portion of the 
interior of the continent, the high timber and grass lands 
of New Mexico, and of northern and eastern Arizona, 
and then the long, fertile valleys of the Gila and the Col¬ 
orado and their tributaries. 

The productive capacity of these valleys has already 
been described. It is sufficient to add here that, sooner 
or later, with their almost unlimited area of deep, rich 
soil, and their practically inexhaustible supplies of water 
for irrigation, they must contain a dense population num¬ 
bering into the millions, and with their traffic must fur¬ 
nish a large and profitable way-business to the southern 
transcontinental lines. 

Looking to the future, the richest and the most popu¬ 
lous of all the transcontinental routes from sea to sea will 
be that which takes in Southern California and these 
great fertile, interior valleys which lie back of it. With 
these facts from which to reason, it is not difficult to fore¬ 
see the future drift of trade. The law of grades, the free¬ 
dom from snow, the shorter lines, the productive way 
territory, and the greater aggregate of population, will 
inevitably draw the transcontinental traffic away from the 
central to the southern route. 

Even now it is found cheaper to ship freight intended 
for San Francisco bv the way of Los Angeles than to send 
it across the northern route by the Central Pacific, and a 


56 


CALIFORNIA OF TIIE SOUTH. 


large portion of her traffic takes this line. With the de¬ 
velopment of the southern ports and the establishment 
of steamer lines, the Asiatic and island trade will land at 
these points, and so save the five hundred miles of extra 
railroading, and the heavy grades of the Tehachapi on 
the line south from San Francisco to Los Angeles. 


Harbors. 

The Pacific coast south of Puget Sound is, by nature, 
deficient in harbors. The only two good natural ports 
within the limits of the United States south of that point 
are San Francisco and San Diego. Of the harbor of San 
Francisco it is scarcely necessary to speak; it ranks 
among the few great seaports of the world. San Diego, 
less known, is also one of the harbors turned off fin¬ 
ished from Nature’s hand. A landlocked sheet of water, 
some twelve miles in length, with a safe, deep entrance, 
carrying some twenty-three feet at low tide across the 
bar, it has the capacity to accommodate a large com¬ 
merce. The California Southern line of the Atchison, 
Topeka, and Santa Fe road reaches tide water there. It 
labors under the disadvantage of lying at the southern 
edge of the great area of agricultural land of Southern 
California, and opposite a higher portion of the Sierra, 
which rises again south of the San Gorgonio Pass. 

The greater portion of the shipping of Southern Cali¬ 
fornia, from the time of the earliest Spanish settlement, 
was done through the port of San Pedro, which lies far¬ 
ther north, and opposite the great body of agricultural 
lands and the center of population, besides being the port 
nearest to the low passes through the Sierra. This port, 
which is one of the chief shipping points of Los Angeles, 
consists of an inner harbor, formerly shut off from the 
sea by a bar, and an open roadstead, sheltered from west¬ 
erly winds by Point San Pedro, but exposed toward the 


CLIMA TO LOG Y. 


57 


south. For many years the business of the port was man¬ 
aged by a system of lighters, the vessels lying at anchor 
out in the roadstead. A portion of it is still so carried on. 
Several years ago the Government, after three careful 
surveys, entered upon the work of improving the har¬ 
bor. A breakwater, about a mile and a half in length, 
was constructed to confine the tide to one channel in its 
flow across the bar, and the scouring effect of the flow 
has been assisted by dredging. The channel through 
the bar, which, when the work was begun, only carried 
about a foot and a half of water at low tide, has now a 
depth of some fourteen feet, and eighteen and a half feet 
at high tide. 

The harbor li.es twenty miles south of Los Angeles 
city. It is one of the terminal points of the Southern Pa¬ 
cific system of roads. San Pedro is also the terminal 
point of the Terminal Railway, a local line. 

North of San Pedro, on the other side of the point, 
is Redondo, a new place, created by the energy of two 
private citizens, who built a magnificent tourist hotel, a 
wharf, railroad to Los Angeles, bath house, pavilion, etc. 
Redondo now does a large shipping business, steamers 
of the coast line calling regularly, and much lumber being 
imported by sailing vessels. 

Port Los Angeles, sixteen miles from Los Angeles, 
is another terminal point of the Southern Pacific. Here 
that railway has a great wharf four fifths of a mile long, 
which was constructed at a cost of one million dollars, 
and where a large proportion of the shipping of Southern 
California is now done. 

At other points along the coast are good roadsteads, 
as at Ventura, and at Santa Barbara, where, through the 
protection afforded by the channel islands and projecting 
points of land, vessels lie at open sea wharves most of the 
year with little difficulty. 

The effect of the completion of an Isthmus canal, 


5 g CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 

either by the Panama or the Nicaragua route, will be to 
stimulate in a marked degree the growth of these south¬ 
ern ports. The commerce which now strikes far out to sea 
in its long voyage around the Horn, because of the wind 
currents, and only approaches the Califoi ilia coast as it 
nears the harbor of San Francisco, will then become 
largely a coastwise trade, and will pass more under the 
control of steam; and as the shorter lines will be those 
nearest the land, it will naturally be tapped first by the 
southern ports. 


Type of Civic and Country Life. 

There are a number of exceptional features in the type 
of life which is growing up in Southern California. It 
is a type unlike that found upon any other portion of the 
coast, and, indeed, with scarcely a parallel within the 
United States. Most new lands go through the slow pro¬ 
cesses of a rude pioneer life before the comforts and the 
conveniences of a matured civilization are a possibility; 
and the first waves of population, while made up of the 
more energetic elements from older communities, are yet 
not marked by any high degree of cultivation or mental 
refinement. The class of immigration which has come to 
Southern California is, in many respects, the opposite of 
this; it has been made up largely of the best and most 
highly cultivated elements of older communities. 

Under the old Spanish regime, before the Mexican 
War, when the Anglo-Teuton was yet almost unknown 
in the land, the country, as headquarters of the Spanish 
colonial system for the coast, possessed many of the ele¬ 
ments of a kindly and refined civilization. It was isolated, 
little known, slumbering away the years, like some dreary 
valley of peace. The years came and went, and the rest¬ 
less currents of the world swept by and left it undisturbed. 
Yet around the old missions, and upon the broad ranchos, 


CLIMA TOLOGY. 


59 


and in the quiet pueblos, was a kindly, courteous, old- 
time life, which had in it none of the roughness of the 
frontier. The writer, coming to Los Angeles twenty 
years ago, while this old ranch life was not yet in its de¬ 
cay, wishes here to pay at least a slight tribute to the kind¬ 
ly spirit of that type of civilization which is now rapidly 
passing away. It had in it nothing of the rush and the 
drive, of the restless energy which have come with the 
type which has supplanted it; it possibly had fulfilled its 
mission, and the times were ripe for something else. Yet 
it came of a blood as truly and intensely American as that 
which dates from Jamestown or Plymouth Rock. It is 
even an older American blood, for it dates from the con¬ 
quistadors and the shores of the Gulf, while yet the Anglo- 
Teuton had only coasted along the west shores of the At¬ 
lantic. 

These two bloods share the Western Continent be¬ 
tween them. As race types they have absorbed all others. 
With a common mission and a common future, they 
should be friends. They met here, and were friends. The 
old Campo Santo and the Anglo-Teuton graveyard hold 
in their restful sleep hearts that beat as kindly for each 
other as though no bar of blood or religion ever stood be¬ 
tween. The writer has known no warmer friends—none 
for whom a more tender feeling of kindly regret lingers 
through the years—than some whose greetings were 
worded in the courteous speech of Castile. 

One face especially comes up from the past with the 
softened memories of years of personal friendship, and 
of many a pleasant day spent together in the old ranch 
house—the face of Don Manuel Dominguez. It is a face 
wrinkled with the touch of nearly eighty years, eyes 
dimmed by age, yet having in them the light of a simple- 
hearted, honest life. 

“ Your ancestors,” he would often exclaim, when we 
wore speaking of the future of the country, “ crossed the 


6o 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


continent by one road, mine by another. For nearly 
three centuries we have between us possessed the land. 
We are not cstrangeros; we are Americans! ” 

As the old man lay dying, he said, gently, in Span¬ 
ish, thinking, evidently, as his mind wandered, that he 
was bargaining for some purchase: “ I will pay so much; 
I will pay no more; I will pay no less, for that amount is 
just.” 

I thought, as I heard him talking, that the remark was 
typical of the man, and was also typical of that older 
Spanish life of which he was a lingering representative. 

It is to this older, simple-hearted type of Spanish civ¬ 
ilization that a wave of Anglo-Teuton blood has come, 
unlike that which generally first reaches the frontier. 

Before the days of transcontinental roads, the distance 
and the expense of removal were so great that only the 
more energetic and prosperous portion of the American 
emigrating element found its way to this far-off region. 
After the building of the roads, and when the cost of 
travel was no longer a bar, the fact that there was prac¬ 
tically no Government land in the country kept away that 
element which drifted to the frontier to take up land, and 
then, after a few years, sell out and move on. Then, the 
methods of cultivation and the class of products involved 
time and outlay of capital before much return could be 
expected, and a higher average of intelligence in the cul¬ 
tivator. Orchards and vineyards and tropical fruits in¬ 
volved a style of cultivation and of management very dif¬ 
ferent from the simple farming of wheat and barley and 
corn. The climate, too, as it became more widely known, 
began to attract the wealthy and cultivated element from 
all the East. 

And so it has been that the emigration to Southern 
California has been culled out from the choicest of the 
population of the East. The intelligence, the culture, the 
refinement, the energy, the wealth of all the East, have 


CLIMA TOLOG Y. 


6l 


contributed to make up the current which, with each year, 
is swelling, and will not cease until the land is filled. 

The result is already showing in a population which, 
in all that goes to make up the highest and best type of 
civilization, can probably not be paralleled elsewhere in 
America. 

If there is any truth in the law of the improvement of 
race by selection and elimination, and in that other law 
of the power of climatic surroundings to influence race 
development, history shows what the fruitage must be. 
It was in the analogue of this climate, as found about the 
east shores of the Mediterranean, that, two thousand 
years ago, grew up the Grseco-Latin civilization which for 
centuries swayed the destinies of the world, and to-day, 
after all the ages, still stamps itself upon the mental life 
of the races. The working of these laws was traced by 
the writer in an address upon The Climatic Belts of Civ¬ 
ilization. 


Education. 

The colony system of settlement, which has been so 
common in Southern California, has borne good fruit in 
educational work. Wherever one goes, over the country 
or in villages or towns, the public-school buildings at¬ 
tract the eye at once by their neatness and the creditable 
style of architecture. The school and the church have 
gone hand in hand in the work of building up a new civ¬ 
ilization. 

Good primary and grammar schools are found in the 
country districts, and high schools in all the smaller 
towns and the cities. In efficiency the schools of no State 
rank higher. A State Normal School, with an attendance 
of several hundreds, exists in the city of Los Angeles. 
A large number of seminaries and colleges, under con¬ 
trol of various churches, supplements this educational 


6 2 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


work. Most of these cluster in and about the city of Los 
Angeles, as the center of population. More detailed ref¬ 
erence to the educational institutions of Los Angeles is 
made later on in this work. 

The educational work of Southern California has been 
planned upon a broad and liberal basis, as it is felt that this 
is to become one of some half-dozen great educational 
centers for the United States. 

The cool, healthful climate of Southern California and 
its social advantages will draw to its schools students 
from the interior Territories and from Mexico, while its 
advantages as a health resort are already bringing many 
students from the Atlantic and Mississippi States. 


Diseases. 

L T nder this heading may be given the diseases which 
are peculiar to or endemic in the country, and also those 
which may hope for benefit by removal to it. Southern 
California is practically free from any diseases which be¬ 
long especially to it, or have their habitat, as the natural¬ 
ists say of a plant, in it. Malaria is but little known. Here 
and there a spot may be found in mountain canons, or in 
river bottoms not reached by the ocean wind, where ma¬ 
larial diseases exist during a portion of the year, but for 
practical purposes the country may be said to be exempt 
from them. 

It is the benefit which comes of the free sweep of the 
ocean wind to the whole of the land. The breaking down 
of the Coast Range of mountains, and the consequent 
openness of the entire system of interior valleys and 
plains to the sea, have thus had an important bearing 
upon the healthfulness of the whole of Southern Cali¬ 
fornia. Yellow fever is unknown. Typhoid, which has 
its habitat wherever men congregate in cities, is found to 
a limited extent; but the purity of the air and the abund- 


CUM A TO LOG Y. 


6 3 

ance and excellent quality of the water make it a disease 
not common, nor ordinarily of a violent type. The cool 
sea breeze, which gives exemption from fevers, brings 
with it, however, a certain amount of neuralgias and sub¬ 
acute rheumatisms. Persons with a tendency to these 
troubles escape by living farther back from the sea. Acute 
inflammatory rheumatism is seldom seen. 

The contagious epidemics of children are found here 
as elsewhere in the world, but with this difference: that 
the possibility of more thorough ventilation and of a 
constant supply of pure, mild air in the sick-room ren¬ 
ders them much less violent than in the colder climates 
and the close houses of the East. The proportion of 
deaths to the number of cases is much less. Pneumonia 
and bronchitis are occasionally but rarely found. 

Phthisis, the scourge of civilization, will require more 
time for a complete answer. Yet this much seems to be 
already clear: that it does not often originate here among 
families free from a strong inherited taint, while the tend¬ 
ency of physical growth among the young, born and 
reared in this climate, is to an increased lung capacity in 
proportion to height and weight, as contrasted with the 
children of the East; and the clear, ruddy complexion 
and marked vigor of body point to an increased vitality. 

Catarrhal troubles are not common. Apart from the 
ordinary average of cases induced by excesses, diseases 
of the liver and kidneys are comparatively rare. 

The cases which may hope for benefit by coming to 
Southern California are, first and foremost, the feeble and 
invalid from whatever cause; those who find the drain 
upon vitality in a harsh climate too great for them; who 
have need to spend a considerable portion of each day in 
the open air, yet who in their own climate are prevented 
from so doing by the inclemency of the weather; those 
who need clear skies and sunshine; to whom the refresh¬ 
ing sleep of a cool, bracing night is a necessity after the 


64 


CALIFORNIA OF TIIE SOUTH. 


warmth of the summer day; those to whose enfeebled di¬ 
gestion or to whose capricious appetites a market stocked 
with fresh vegetables, fruits, and berries, every month of 
the year, is of importance. For such, and for all who are 
suffering from the nervous prostration of overwork, there 
is probably no better climate to be found. It is a climate 
in which the drain upon vitality is, with any proper man¬ 
ner of living, less than the gain. 

A mistake is sometimes made in the selection of a cli¬ 
mate for cases of nervous exhaustion, by sending them to 
the stimulation of a dry, elevated, interior region. To 
such cases the first effect of such a climate is like that of 
a dose of alcohol, the temporary exhilaration of the stimu¬ 
lant, but with the inevitable reaction. For such cases the 
best climate is one of less elevation and more atmospheric 
humidity, the climate of a mild seacoast region. It is not 
the spurring up of stimulation which they need, but the 
recuperation which comes of restful climatic surround¬ 
ings. 

While the immediate coast line with its fogs develops 
a certain amount of subacute rheumatism and neuralgia, 
yet such cases coming from the East often improve in a 
marked degree with the improvement which comes in the 
general health; and if they avoid the seacoast, and live 
back in the interior valleys, they generally escape such 
troubles entirely. 

Persons suffering from malarial poisoning and its 
various sequels find in the seaside life, and the surf-bath¬ 
ing, an almost certain relief. The number of such persons 
coming from the valley of the Mississippi and its tribu¬ 
taries is increasing rapidly with each year. 

The free action of the skin, which comes of the milder 
climate, makes Southern California the most favorable 
portion of the Pacific coast for kidney troubles. With 
such cases in any chronic form the question is rather one 
of prolonging life, and of living in comparative comfort, 


CL/A/A TO LOG Y. 


65 


than of cure. To this end a fair but not excessive action 
of the skin, freedom from sudden changes of weather and 
the risk of chill, and the choice of a wide range of diet, are 
necessary. 

In consumption a great mistake is often made. Cases 
by the hundreds arrive in Southern California which 
would be much better off at home. No climate can claim 
to be a cure-all. It should be considered, before starting 
an invalid upon so long a trip, whether there is strength 
to endure the fatigue of the journey. Many, too, come 
without friends or acquaintances, and literally die of 
homesickness. Many also come who, through lack of 
means, or through a mistaken economy, rent cold, shady 
rooms, and live at restaurants, and so, missing the com¬ 
forts of their home life, are worse off than if they had 
never started. There is also a great difference in locali¬ 
ties and local climates, and invalids differ in constitution, 
and many, instead of at once seeking the advice of some 
competent physician as to the point to be selected for resi¬ 
dence, drift around thinking that the country is all alike, 
and one spot as favorable as another, until much valuable 
time has been lost and possibly irreparable harm done. 

To the consumptive coming before the disease is far 
advanced, having the means to secure reasonable com¬ 
forts, taking steps to select from the first the locality best 
suited to the peculiarities of his especial case, and then 
avoiding the common mistake of trying to make a sight¬ 
seeing tour of what should be a quiet rest, the climate of 
Southern California in some one of its varied phases offers 
a fair hope of check and amelioration to the disease, and 
of possibly years of comfortable life, and to some even 
more—an apparent or possibly real recovery. But this 
will not be by a winter’s trip, or spending a few months 
here, and then returning again to the climate in which the 
disease originated. It will be by coming and making a 
new home. It must not be a trip, but a migration. 

6 


66 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


The best of all prospects is for the person or the fam¬ 
ily inheriting the tendency, but in whom it is yet dormant. 
To them there is a well-founded hope that the disease 
may remain dormant, and to their children, born and 
reared in the new home, a prospect of its entire eradica¬ 
tion from the blood. 

Sufferers from that erratic and torturing disease, asth¬ 
ma, generally secure in some one of the various shades of 
climate, or in the different elevations which are to be 
found within a limited area, immunity from the attacks 
of their remorseless foe. 

It is impossible in so limited space to go over the 
whole list of diseases, but the climatic laws and facts 
given in this part will enable a competent physician to 
form an opinion for any especial case. 

A pleasant feature of life in Southern California, and 
one which has much to do with the development of vig¬ 
orous health, is the custom, which yearly grows in favor, 
of summering by the seaside and on Catalina Island. The 
long ocean face of the country is each year, for several 
months, dotted with canvas villages, where thousands of 
people live over again for a season the old tent life of the 
race, and, while enjoying the surf-bathing, drink in with 
every breath of the salt air the ruddy and rugged health 
which is born of the sea. Besides these tent villages there 
are numerous well-built towns with all the comforts and 
conveniences of settled society, and with numerous and 
costly hotels. The railroads from the interior reach the 
coast at many points to accommodate this summer ex¬ 
odus to the seaside. 

In concluding this part upon the climatology, and 
some of the allied features of the Pacific coast, the writer 
would say that the task has been to him a labor of love. 

It is a slight tribute which he pays back for the health 
and the sunshine which, during all these years, it has 
thrown into his life. 


CLIMATOLOGY. 67 

Coming to the coast in boyhood, he has lived its varied 
life—in the mountains—on its broad plains—by the sea— 
and upon the deserts of the great inland plateau—until 
they have interwoven themselves into the very fiber of his 
being. Why should he not love his land? It has been 
to him in all these years a thing of infinite worth. He can 
well understand the love of the old Greek for his seagirt 
home. 

And he has faith in its future. For over thirty years 
he has taken active part in its growth; has seen it broaden 
and strengthen, and has seen behind the feverish quest 
for gold a higher, nobler life growing up—a life that no 
longer has eyes bent downward to the yellow-speckled 
slime of the river, but has lifted them up to the eternal 
mountains, and the deep skies that lie beyond; a life 
which no longer hears only the jingle of the nugget upon 
the gaming table, but has ears growing attuned to the 
voice of the wind in the upland pines; a life which is 
learning that there are other and better questions to man’s 
existence than what he shall eat, and what he shall drink, 
and wherewithal he shall be clothed. 

And in this newer and nobler life which is growing up 
here upon the shores of the Pacific, and upon the high¬ 
lands of that great inner plateau which reaches on south¬ 
ward to the city of Mexico, it seems to him he can discern 
the fair promise of a civilization which had its only ana¬ 
logue in that Graeco-Latin race-flowering which came to 
the eastern shores of the Mediterranean centuries ago. 


















































' 













































































PART II. 


LOS ANGELES, ORANGE, SAN DIEGO, 
SAN BERNARDINO, VENTURA, 
SANTA BARBARA, 

AND RIVERSIDE COUNTIES. 

By WALTER LINDLEY, M. D. 


The Overland Trip—How to enjoy it. 

The health-seeker who, after years of suffering in both 
mind and body, after vainly trying the cold climate of 
Minnesota and the warm climate of Florida, after visiting 
Mentone, Cannes, and Nice, after traveling to Cuba and 
to Algiers, and noticing that he is losing ounce upon 
ounce of flesh, that his cheeks grow more sunken, his ap¬ 
petite more capricious, his breath more hurried, that his 
temperature is no longer normal, his pulse beats ioo in¬ 
stead of 72, and that his finger nails curve ominously, turns 
with a new gleam of hope toward the Occident. 

Another health-seeker who, after years of exciting, 
exacting work, is unable to concentrate his mind, worn 
out by sleepless nights, weak from loss of appetite, and 
distracted by melancholy, also looks toward the equable 
climate and mild breezes of the Pacific slope for the seda¬ 
tive and restorative effects that medicine fails to supply. 

Still another health-seeker, whose joints no longer 
respond to the mandates of the will, who is harassed and 

69 



;o 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


tortured with pains at every change in the weather, looks 
to the genial climate and the healing waters of the springs 
of Southern California for relief. 

Still, again, we have the wretched sufferer, whose 
sleepless nights are one long struggle for breath because 
of an inherited or an acquired asthma, and who also hopes 
in the varied climates of Southern California to find one 
that will dethrone the demon which clouds his life. 

The questions naturally arise: Where shall I go? 
What route shall I take? How long shall I be on the 
way? What will be the expense? What are the accom¬ 
modations after reaching there? What is best to carry 
with me on such a journey? What clothing shall I need? 
Shall I take my family? Are there good schools for my 
children? What are the means of whiling away the time? 

The man with sporting proclivities wants to know of 
trout-fishing, of the facilities for boating, and of the vari¬ 
ous kinds of game. The artistically inclined wishes to 
know of the scenery; the student of Nature is interested 
in the mosses, flowers, and ferns; the horticulturist de¬ 
sires knowledge of the fruit; the farmer of grain; the 
dairyman of the creameries and cheese factories; the phy¬ 
sician of the prevalent diseases, the wind, altitude, tem¬ 
perature, rainfall, and humidity. It is to answer these 
questions that this book is written. 

There are excellent eating stations along all the vari¬ 
ous routes, but trains are apt to be behind time, and fre¬ 
quently the traveler who has not provided for himself must 
wait until eleven or twelve o’clock for breakfast or till mid¬ 
night for his dinner. The suggestion of Rev. E. P. Roe,* 
author of Barriers Burned Away, that the overland roads 
furnish tea, coffee, and sandwiches when trains are de¬ 
layed is a good one, and has been complied with, but nev¬ 
ertheless a well-filled lunch-basket is a great desideratum. 


* Letter from Los Angeles to Chicago Inter-Ocean. 



LOS ANGELES. 


7 1 


It is, on the whole, much better for health and comfort to 
eat at the stations and get freshly cooked food whenever 
the railway eating stations are reached at reasonable 
hours. 

The traveler should always carry something with him 
to guard against constipation. A sedlitz powder, a tea¬ 
spoonful of Rochelle salt, or a tablespoonful of Hunyadi 
Janos taken before breakfast, is a simple and efficient pre¬ 
ventive. A bottle of paregoric, a bottle of aromatic spir¬ 
its of ammonia, and a flask of good whisky, are all excel¬ 
lent things to carry in the satchel. If you do not need 
them, some fellow-traveler will. The sensible transcon¬ 
tinental traveler throws aside unnecessary conventionali¬ 
ties, and in twenty-four hours becomes well acquainted 
with every occupant of his Pullman. Elderly ladies and 
children generally are the earliest passengers to start the 
social ball rolling. 

On one transcontinental trip, in the writer’s experi¬ 
ence, all were having a jolly good time except one man, 
whom the others called the mute; but on the third day a 
cup of good tea from a good-hearted old lady caused his 
stolidity to vanish like a heavy mist before the noonday 
sun, and he then became one of the family. 

In another car there was a solemn-looking man from 
San Francisco and a mischievous little three-year-old girl 
from Los Angeles. This little girl's mamma was in a 
constant tremor, thinking of the terrible consequences 
should her little girl annoy the sedate gentleman. One 
day she relaxed her vigilance, and, on looking up, was 
terror-stricken to see her child standing on a seat back of 
this man and with a string around his neck was crying 
in childish glee, “ Get up, horsey! ” The mother ran to 
the man with apologies; but he soon quieted her fears by 
telling her that the man who didn’t like children ought to 
be shot, and from that time on he joined in the social di¬ 
versions of the trip. 


72 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


Several years ago on the same train were the Rev. 
Samuel Scoville, son-in-law of Henry Ward Beecher, and 
Rev. Charles B. Sumner, also a New England clergyman, 
and these preachers and their families entered heartily 
into the pleasures of the trip. When Sunday came, the 
train was passing through the grand pine forests of Ari¬ 
zona, and there in one of the Pullman’s, passing under the 
branches of “ God’s first temples/’ services were held. 
The clergymen conducted the exercises. Familiar hymns 
were sung, and brief remarks were made by several. 
Among others a spiritualist spoke, and said that he had 
abused the Church frequently in the past, but, after listen¬ 
ing to these services, he felt like taking it all back. Thus, 
incongruous people become pleasant and mollified. 

During such a trip cards, books, newspapers, and il¬ 
lustrated papers are always in demand. A young man 
with a violin, or a young lady with a guitar and a sweet 
voice, is a great acquisition to any party. 

The four days’ ride from Kansas City, New Orleans, 
or Omaha is either dull, monotonous, and desolate, or 
cheerful, exciting, and instructive, just as each passenger 
elects. 

The wide-awake traveler will gain much knowledge of 
the country he will traverse by conversing with his fellow- 
passengers. 


The Arrival in Southern California. 

But we will now suppose the journey across the great 
republic is completed, and the traveler is in Los Angeles, 
the central city of Southern California. 

Should you be fortunate enough to have friends whom 
you expect to visit, be sure and telegraph them the time 
of your arrival and what route you will travel. Inform 
your friends that, if the train arrives at night, you will re¬ 
main in the car until morning. The most dismal courte- 


LOS ANGELES. 


73 


sy imaginable is to wait around a cheerless depot from 
hour to hour through a chilly night in an “ abnormal state 
of uncertainty,” expecting friends on a delayed train. 

If you have no hospitable friends in Los Angeles, de¬ 
cide what hotel you are going to before you arrive; and, 
in fact, it may save you trouble and annoyance to have 
written and secured accommodations before you left 
home. 

By having these questions settled, you can have your 
baggage checked to your hotel or boarding house before 
you arrive in Los Angeles, and thus avoid the risk of de¬ 
livering it to irresponsible carriers. The cars of several 
street railway lines pass the depots and hotels at intervals 
of five minutes. Fare, five cents on all lines. 

Prices in hotels and boarding houses range from one 
to four dollars per day. Day board at restaurants aver¬ 
ages five dollars per week. A wholesome and well-served 
meal, including meat, coffee or wine, and desert, may be 
ordered at a restaurant for twenty-five cents. 


A Century in Los Angeles. 

Los Angeles is not a new town like Kansas City, Oma¬ 
ha, or Minneapolis. It was a thriving pueblo when the 
Franciscan Fathers established a mission here in 1781. 
On account of its beautiful location midway between the 
mountains and the sea, its delightful climate, and the fer¬ 
tility of its soil, it was named Pueblo de la Reina dc los An¬ 
geles (“ Town of the Queen of the Angels ’). 

Fortv-one years later the first American, a man named 
Chapman, was brought to Los Angeles. He came as a 
prisoner of the Mexicans, but soon fraternized with them, 
and afterward married into a Spanish family. Many simi¬ 
lar marriages—i. e., American men to women of Spanish 
descent—have taken place in Southern California, and, as 
a rule, they have proved very happy. There are in Los 


74 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


Angeles to-day numerous young men of prominence and 
promise who have Castilian mothers and American fa¬ 
thers.* 

In each of these marriages there was the stipulation 
that the woman should control the religious training of 
the children; and, even from a Protestant standpoint, 
a fortunate proviso this was, because up to 1854 the only 
organization in Los Angeles upholding any standard of 
morality whatever was the Roman Catholic Church. It 
erected houses of worship, hospitals, and schools; it was 
the pioneer in all good works. 

In 1824 a Scotchman came to Los Angeles and opened 
the first general store on the American plan. In 1831 
the opening of the Santa Fe trail created a new outlet to 
the East, and was the means of developing an extensive 
trade. 

In 1835 Los Angeles became the capital of California. 
Hostilities between the United States and Mexico having 
been precipitated, and the Mexican War inaugurated, 
Commodore Robert Field Stockton f and Major John C. 
Fremont, on August 13, 1846, marched into Los Angeles 
and raised the Stars and Stripes. 

Don Pio Pico, who was then Governor of California 
under appointment from the Mexican Government, had 
left the night before on a tour through what is now the 
southern part of Los Angeles County. Governor Pico 
was until last year, when he died, a resident of Los Ange¬ 
les, and could be seen on the street any day, a hearty and 
active man over ninety years of age. 

Fremont and Stockton went north, leaving Lieutenant 


The writer has never known, although there are probably excep¬ 
tional cases, of a Spaniard or Mexican of this section marrying an Ameri¬ 
can wife. Instances are not rare where Americans have married Indian 
wives, and these unions have also proved surprisingly happy, 
f Afterward United States Senator from New Jersey. 






LOS ANGELES. 


75 


Gillespie in charge with but seventeen men. There was 
soon a general revolt under Captain Jose Maria Flores, 
and, in the latter part of September, Lieutenant Gillespie, 
after being in a state of siege for several days on Fort 
Hill,* surrendered Los Angeles to the Mexicans on con¬ 
dition that he and his men be permitted to march unmo¬ 
lested to San Pedro. The handful of men was taken on 
board the merchant-ship Vandalia. On January io, 1847, 
Commodore Stockton and General Stephen W. Kearny 
recaptured the town, and on the 14th Fremont joined 
them with his forces after effecting a treaty with the Mexi¬ 
cans under General Andres Pico at the Cahuenga, a beau¬ 
tiful mountain pass eight miles from the city. 

On January 16, 1847, Fremont became Governor of 
California, establishing his headquarters in the two-story 
adobe building yet standing at the corner of Aliso and 
Los Angeles Streets. This building was at the time the 
best in town, for, as one old settler said, “ Fremont always 
would have the best of everything.” Fremont remained 
in Los Angeles until March 22d, when he took the famous 
mustang ride with Jesus Pico and Jacob Dodson to Mon¬ 
terey, five hundred miles away. During this trip the 
dashing young officer averaged nearly one hundred and 
twenty-five miles a day, for the round trip of a thousand 
miles, being absent from Los Angeles just eight and one 
half days. 

About this time the seat of government was removed 
to Monterey, and Kearny, in accordance with instruc¬ 
tions from Washington, became Governor. On April 7th 
Colonel Mason superseded Fremont as commander in 
Los Angeles, and May 9, 1847, General Kearny arrived 
and took command, and three days later Fremont left for 
the North. 

Hon. S. C. Foster, one of the early mayors of Los An- 


* Fort Hill is a point in Los Angeles well worth visiting. 




7 6 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


geles, a resident of this city since 1847, gives many inter¬ 
esting reminiscences of Fremont’s residence in Los An¬ 
geles. Mr. Foster was a member of the California State 
Senate when Fremont was a candidate before that body 
for re-election to the United States Senate. He says that 
he voted for Fremont one hundred and thirty-five times, 
and that finally the Legislature adjourned without an 
election. Mr. Foster states that he was not voting so 
much for Fremont as he was for Senator Thomas H. 
Benton, Fremont’s father-in-law, as he thought it would 
be the same as giving Benton two votes! 

The first Protestant preacher in Los Angeles was 
Rev. J. W. Brier, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
who arrived here in 1850, his entire earthly possessions 
being contained in the ox team which he drove. He held 
the first service in the adobe residence of Colonel J. G. 
Nichols, where the courthouse now stands. Little did he 
reck that in 1895 his denomination would have fifteen 
churches and a collection of massive university buildings 
in this city. The first mayor of Los Angeles was elected 
in 1850. The first brick house was erected, at the corner 
of Third and Main Streets, in 1852. This building was 
one story high, and, in 1859—’60, was occupied by Cap¬ 
tain Winfield S. Hancock. This young military officer 
was very popular in Los Angeles, and when he became a 
candidate for President, many Republicans of this vicin¬ 
ity found the ties of friendship stronger than party ties 
and openly supported their hero. A few years before his 
death General Hancock visited Los Angeles and received 
a great ovation. The first English-speaking school was 
taught by Rev. Dr. Wicks in 1850. The first American 
child born in Los Angeles was Gregg Nichols, who saw 
the light of day April 15, 1851. The first newspaper was 
born May 17, 1851, and was christened The Los Angeles 
Star. 

In 1853 there were three dry-goods stores. In 1854 



LOS ANGELES. 


77 

the population of Los Angeles was four thousand, of 
whom but five hundred were Americans. 

• In 1854 the first Masonic Lodge received its charter. 
The same year, in September, the first hive of bees was 
brought to Los Angeles. It had been purchased in San 
Francisco for the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars. 
The same year a tannery was established. In 1855 bull¬ 
fighting on Sunday was stopped. During the same year 
the first Odd Fellows’ Lodge was organized. 

Although Judge Lynch had indulged in a few exe¬ 
cutions, the first legal hanging occurred in Los Angeles 
May 30, 1856. A few years later an atrocious murder was 
committed, and the murderer lodged in the Los Angeles 
Jail. A mob, thirsting for his blood, gathered around 
the jail, when Colonel John F. Godfrey, an able and popu¬ 
lar lawyer, mounted the steps in front of the jail and read¬ 
ily gained the respectful attention of the would-be rioters. 
“ Gentlemen,” he said, “ the widow of the murdered man 
is left in poverty and with a large family of children. I 
know you all sympathize with her deeply.” (Approving 
responses.) kk Then I will appoint four men to go through 
this audience and take up a collection.” The shrewd col¬ 
onel then appointed several of the ringleaders to take 
up a collection, and the result was that the sight of the 
contribution box dispersed that mob quicker than it could 
have been done by a battalion of soldiers. 

In the fall of 1857 the citizens of Los Angeles sent the 
Hon. H. D. Barrows to Washington with a barrel of old 
port wine, two cases of white and red wines, some choice 
varieties of brandies and angelica wines, and a great vari¬ 
ety of oranges, lemons, almonds, citrons, English wal¬ 
nuts, and grapes, as a present for President Buchanan. 
United States Senator Gwin was a passenger by the same 
steamer, and voluntarily proffered to present Mr. Bar- 
rows to the President. 

Mr. Barrows, in conversation recently, said he found 


78 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


the President a very courtly elderly gentleman. He re¬ 
ceived them with quiet cordiality and made many in¬ 
quiries about California and especially about Los Ange¬ 
les, which at that time was almost a terra incognita to the 
people of the Atlantic States. President Buchanan 
thanked Mr. Barrows particularly for the wines, and said, 
with a twinkle in his eye, that he “ claimed to be a good 
judge of wine.” Senator Gwin, on the same occasion, 
gave the President a bottle of very old California grape 
brandy. 

In 1858 Lieutenant Beale (later General Beale, of 
Washington) brought a number of Arabian camels to 
Los Angeles, believing they would prove profitable as 
beasts of burden. The experiment proved a failure, and 
the animals were finally sold to a circus company. 

In i860 the population of Los Angeles was four thou¬ 
sand five hundred, and the first telegraph line was con¬ 
structed. In 1867 a castor-oil mill and gas works were 
established. In 1868 the Los Angeles City Water Com¬ 
pany obtained a franchise, and the first railroad was 
built. The road was twenty-three miles long, and united 
this city with the harbor at San Pedro. 

In 1871 there occurred a disgraceful riot, in which 
eighteen Chinese were killed. The same year the first 
fire company was organized and at once entered upon the 
arduous duties of controlling the city’s politics. 

The first woolen mill was established in 1872, and the 
Public Library was founded in 1873. In 1874 the first 
fruit-drying establishment was inaugurated, on an exten¬ 
sive scale. The year following a broom factory and arti¬ 
ficial-stone works began operations. 

In 1876 Los Angeles had a bank failure, a drought, 
and the smallpox. The only silver lining to this cloud 
was the completion of the Southern Pacific Railway from 
San Francisco, thus giving Los Angeles for the first time 
railway communication with other cities. Railways were 


LOS ANGELES. 


79 


soon built to the seashore at Santa Monica, sixteen miles 
away; to Santa Ana, in the rich Santa Ana Valley, thirty 
miles away; and ere long the Southern Pacific Railway 
was extended directly east through Arizona, New Mexi¬ 
co, and Texas, to New Orleans. 

On October 6, 1880, the College of Letters of the Uni¬ 
versity of Southern California was formally opened, with 
a large attendance. 

September 5, 1881, Los Angeles celebrated her cen¬ 
tennial anniversary with great enthusiasm. Several thou¬ 
sand people were in procession. The Mexican popula¬ 
tion took an important part in these ceremonies. Thou¬ 
sands of them were in line, on spirited horses. There was 
a Mexican primitive two-wheeled cart, with solid, hewed 
wheels, drawn by two oxen, a carriage containing two 
Mexican women, aged respectively one hundred and 
three and one hundred and seventeen years, and many 
other features peculiarly Mexican. 

During this same year the first four-story block was 
erected, the owner being Remi Nadeau, who made his ad¬ 
vent in Los Angeles in early days as the driver of an ox 
team. In 1882 the State normal-school building was 
erected, and during the same year the United States Mag¬ 
netic Observatory—the only one in the country—was re¬ 
moved from Madison, Wisconsin, and established in this 
city. A still more important enterprise was the inaugura¬ 
tion of an elaborate system of electric lights. The city is 
now lighted by about one hundred and fifty three-thou- 
sand-candle-power arc-lights. No other city in the world 
surpasses Los Angeles in the matter of street illumina¬ 
tion. 

In 1884 Mademoiselle Rhea appeared in The School 
for Scandal, in the dedication of the Grand Opera House. 
The first cable of several street railways was also built 
during this year. But we will cease the enumeration of 
the many important events which have taken place in Los 


8o 


CALIFORNIA OF TIIE SOUTH . 


Angeles during these last few years, as we have already in 
this brief historical outline recounted enough data; so 
that the reader may understand that, while Los Angeles 
is over a century old, yet it is, at the same time, a com¬ 
paratively new town. It is old as a picturesque, sleepy, 
free-and-easy, Spanish pueblo , but new, as a thriving, pro¬ 
gressive American city; old, as a center for an extensive 
grazing country—new, as a distributing commercial mart; 
old, as a station where the solitary horseman stopped for 
rest and refreshment—new, as a railroad center, where 
nearly a hundred loaded trains daily discharge their pas¬ 
sengers and merchandise; old, as a Catholic mission, 
where the noble-hearted, self-sacrificing priests, under 
the beneficent guidance of Padre Junipero, held sway— 
new, as a cosmopolitan city, where a hundred Protestant 
churches vie with the cathedral chimes in directing the 
thoughts of man. 

But the old has not entirely passed away. Many of 
the one-story adobe buildings still remain. Especially in 
that portion of the city known as Sonora-town several 
thousand descendants of the old Spanish families, who in 
their wisdom founded Los Angeles, are yet among us to 
claim the credit due their race. 

The distinguishing virtues of the Spanish-American 
population are charity and fidelity. Go to our county 
hospitals and almshouses, and you will look in vain for 
the Mexican or Spaniard. 

The German and the Irishman are there; the English- 
man and the Frenchman are the county’s wards; the 
African from Mississippi and the American from Virginia 
sit side by side at the pauper’s table; but the Mexican 
and Spaniard will share his last crust with a distressed 
countryman. The ties of kinship are not necessary to 
call forth from a Mexican the last dollar for a common 
fund. He who would criticise these descendants of early 
settlers for their lack of thrift, their impulsive tempers, 


LOS ANGELES. 


8 I 


and their ways of idleness, could, by looking a little closer, 
learn of virtues that would make the average American 
blush for his own race. 

But this Spanish population is rapidly disappearing. 
Death and emigration are removing them from the land. 
During the first half of this century they were noted for 
health and longevity. They spent their days in the saddle 
and their nights in sound sleep in well-ventilated houses, 
or wrapped in a scrape , with the faithful stars watching 
over them. Their diet was fresh meat or game; their 
drink, water, milk, and claret. These healthful habits 
have all changed. They no longer have unnumbered 
horses to ride and vast herds of sheep, from which one for 
a meal would never be missed. Their broad acres now, 
with few exceptions, belong to the more acquisitive 
American or Hebrew. Grinding poverty has bred reck¬ 
lessness and moroseness. Simple healthful amusements 
have in many instances given way to midnight carousals, 
and long-continued dissipation and want are huddling 
them together in the most unwholesome localities in the 
city. 

But upon this dark picture the morning light is break¬ 
ing. Here and there the scion of some old Spanish fam¬ 
ily is distinguishing himself as a statesman, an attorney, 
or a business man. The reader has doubtless seen a mer¬ 
chant who had been regarded as a financial leader sud¬ 
denly succumb to some irresistible disaster; for years 
after he would appear to be irretrievably crushed, and 
then gradually he would recover his former ability. The 
keen light of intelligent activity would again shine forth 
through the lusterless eyeballs, and ere long this disheart¬ 
ened man would mount up to achievements he had never 
before dreamed of. So to-day we see, springing from the 
loins of these Spanish families, who have been so ruthless¬ 
ly crushed to the earth, ambitious, industrious, brilliant 
young men, some one of whom may prove to be the guid- 
7 





A Veranda in Los Angeles 




































LOS ANGELES. 83 

ing star that will yet lead his fellow-countrymen to a po¬ 
sition which this race has not known for decades. 


The Los Angeles of To-day. 

There is probably no city of equal size in the United 
States which is so well known throughout the country as 
Los Angeles, the beautiful county seat of this county, 
which has made such marvelous growth during the past 
ten years. It is charmingly located at the base of the Sier¬ 
ra Madre foothills, fifteen miles from the coast and about 
three hundred feet above the sea level. The city limits 
cover thirty-six square miles of hill, valley, and plain, af¬ 
fording a succession of varied and picturesque residence 
sites. 

In 1880 Los Angeles was a quiet semi-Mexican pueblo 
of eleven thousand people. Its houses were mostly of 
adobe, or sun-dried brick; its streets were unpaved, and 
few even graded; its chief commerce was confined to 
wool and hides. Even in 1885 there had been little im¬ 
provement. The changes that have taken place during 
the past ten years are truly wonderful. 

The population of Los Angeles bv the census of 1890 
was over fifty thousand, and is at present not less than 
seventy-five thousand. There are in the city one hundred 
and twenty miles of graded and graveled streets, twelve 
miles of paved streets, and over one hundred miles of 
cement sidewalks. Most of the street paving is of as- 
phaltum. An internal sewer system, costing $374,000, 
has been completed, also an outfall sewer to the ocean 
which has cost $400,000. There are several systems of 
water supply. For over twelve years the city has been 
lighted entirely by electricity. 

The value of buildings erected within the past ten 
years—and mainly within the past seven—is not less than 
$30,000,000, including a $500,000 courthouse, a $200,- 


84 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


ooo city hall, and a number of handsome four-, five-, and 
six-story blocks, costing from $100,000 to $300,000 each. 

Three handsome theaters seat 1,400, i,ooo, and 1,100 
respectively. They present most of the leading attrac¬ 
tions from the East and Europe. There is also a large 
pavilion, seating 4,000, where fairs, fruit shows, and oc¬ 
casional theatrical performances and concerts are given. 

The street railroad system is probably superior to that 
of any city of equal population in the United States. 
There are over one hundred miles of street railroad track, 
mostly cable and electric. 

Los Angeles is favorably situated for commerce, as 
well as for pleasant residence. There is no city in the 
West where business is better than in Los Angeles at pres¬ 
ent. The wonderful natural resources of the surrounding 
country are shown by the manner in which Los Angeles 
survived the effect of the wild speculative real-estate boom 
of 1886—’87. There were no failures, and while many, of 
course, bought more land than they needed, and suffered 
individual discomfort, the affairs of that period have been 
gradually adjusted, prices of real estate have come down 
to a reasonable basis, and city property is again attracting 
the attention of the conservative Eastern capitalists, who 
see in it a good investment. Several Eastern men of 
wealth have invested millions in Los Angeles property 
during the past year, and are building large business 
blocks. A big revival is noticeable all along the line. Sub¬ 
stantial buildings are going up in every direction and im¬ 
provements of an enduring character are being made. 
With the increase in population, manufacturing is also 
making a forward stride. 

The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce has done 
much to advance the interests of the city and county. 

Socially, Los Angeles is a most attractive city, the in¬ 
habitants being cosmopolitan, hospitable, and refined. 
The schools are second to none in the United States. 



LOS ANGELES. 


85 


There are also a number of colleges. The public library 
contains over forty thousand selected volumes. Lec¬ 
tures, concerts, and other entertainments are of almost 
daily occurrence. The ocean and mountains are both 
within three quarters of an hour’s ride by rail. 

The homes of Los Angeles charm the visitor, most 
of them standing in spacious lots, beautified with semi- 
tropical trees and shrubs. Hotels and boarding houses 
are plentiful and rates reasonable. 


What to see in Los Angeles. 

The tourist who has leisure will be well repaid by vis¬ 
iting one of the open zanjas in the suburbs, where the 
Mexican population is numerous, and watch the senoras 
doing their weekly washing. The tomalc man is another 
Mexican feature, who is very similar to the hot-corn 
hawker of Eastern cities. The tomalc consists of green 
corn mashed and mixed with chicken, olives, chile (red 
pepper), and numerous other ingredients, all wrapped in 
a corn-husk, tied at the end, and furnished hot. It is real¬ 
ly a delicious morsel. 

If the tourist desires a genuine Mexican meal, he 
should go to Illich’s—an old-time Los Angeles restau¬ 
rant—and order a regular “ Spanish breakfast.” 

Los Angeles is midway between mountain and sea, 
being fourteen miles from each. It is also midway be¬ 
tween Santa Barbara and San Diego—the former being 
one hundred miles northwest, the latter one hundred miles 
southeast. The altitude of the city varies from three hun¬ 
dred and fifty to five hundred feet. Much of the residen¬ 
tial portion is built on hills that are traversed by cable 
street-railways, by which it can be easily reached on pay¬ 
ment of a five-cent fare. No visitor should miss the ride 
over these hills, and the bird’s-eye view of the city and 
valley. 


86 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH . 


In architecture, Los Angeles presents every variety, 
from the quaint adobe of the Spaniard to the four-, five-, 
and six-story brick or stone building of a modern type. 
On Spring Street and Broadway there are half a dozen 
business blocks which would be a credit to any city of 
three times the size. For homes, the popular building is 
the rose-embowered cottage. These beautiful cottages, 
surrounded by well-kept lawns, with hammocks swing¬ 
ing on verandas or under pepper trees, and with fuchsias, 
heliotropes, and roses clambering to the roofs, are the 
choice of many wealthy people. Mechanics and even day 
laborers here easily have homes that delight the artist’s 
eye. 

Would you obtain a comprehensive impression of Los 
Angeles as it is to-day within a short space of time? You 
can do this in a day and a half if you are a good walker 
and will start out before the sun is very high, or you can 
drive to all the points mentioned in a buggy. In making 
the trip you will get a better general idea of Los Angeles 
and see more of it in a day than many old residents have 
seen in ten years, for Los Angeles is an extensive pueblo, 
the city limits embracing an area of thirty-six square 
miles. 

Take the Temple Street car to Beaudry Avenue and 
walk up the latter street, around the Sisters’ Hospital to 
the white fenced reservoir which you see on the hill. 
There is no fear of your mistaking your road, for that res¬ 
ervoir is a landmark which is visible from almost any 
point for ten miles around. It is something of a climb, 
but you will be rewarded when you get to the top. What 
a magnificent panorama is spread before you! The city 
and country for miles around are spread out like a relief 
map at your feet. A long ridge, thickly covered with resi¬ 
dences, extends from Buena Vista to Pearl Street, hiding 
a great portion of the business center; but through a 
break in the hill you see the most thickly-settled resi- 



Kinneyloa Ranch, thirteen miles east of Los Angeles, 

























88 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


dence portion, extending away to the south and south¬ 
west, until it is lost in the groves and fields in the distance. 
To the left, on the very summit of the ridge, the High 
School, a large, dark-red brick building of stately archi¬ 
tecture, stands out prominently. A little to the right of 
this is the new Courthouse, the highest building in the 
city, which towers like a giant among the surrounding 
edifices. Still farther to the right the tower of the City 
Hall may be seen rising above the trees. The groves of 
gum trees and stretches of orchards away to the south¬ 
west are in Vernon, the beautiful horticultural suburb of 
Los Angeles. To the left—or east—of the High School 
the river is plainly seen, winding between its leveed banks, 
under numerous bridges, through the city and in a tor¬ 
tuous course toward the ocean. On the east and west 
bank frequent trains of the Southern Pacific, Santa Fe, 
and Terminal railroads puff along, the sound of their 
whistles reaching the ear through the clear atmosphere 
several seconds after the escaping steam of the throttle 
has disappeared. The numerous large brick blocks on 
this side of the river are in “ Sonora Town,” the old Span¬ 
ish quarter, north of the plaza. 

Beyond the river, on a high mesa which terminates in 
a bluff, at the foot of which the river formerly ran, is Boyle 
Heights, the airy and healthy eastern residence section 
of Los Angeles. Fifteen years ago you would have seen 
little more than a couple of farmhouses there on the tree¬ 
less plain. To-day it is dotted over with hundreds of 
beautiful residences and punctuated with graceful shade 
trees, while a double-track cable railroad traverses it from 
the river to the eastern limits of the city. The large 
brick building on the crest of the bluff, which is almost 
as prominent a landmark as the High School and the 
Courthouse, is the Catholic Orphan Asylum. The rays 
of the setting sun cause the gilt cross on its summit to 
shine out like the evening star. Near this is now building 


LOS ANGELES. 


89 


the Hollenbeck Home for Old Women, a most beneficent 
charity. Beyond Boyle Heights, about ten miles to the 
eastward, is the low range of San Jose hills. On their east¬ 
ern slope Whittier is plainly seen. The large white build¬ 
ing high upon the hillside is the Whittier High School. 
The massive building lower down to the right is the Whit¬ 
tier State School. Still farther away, a hundred miles dis¬ 
tant in an air line, the dark, gray mass of the Santa Ana 
range of mountains looms up. Coming back home and 
looking to the extreme left, a portion of East Los Angeles 
is seen, embowered in verdure. 

Now turn your gaze to the south. The Sisters’ Hos¬ 
pital, a quaint, peaceful-looking brick building set in 
beautiful grounds, lies at your feet. Ten years ago this 
was “ out in the country.” To-day it is surrounded by 
residences and graded streets. Twelve years ago not half 
a dozen of the hundreds of tasteful residences which you 
see at your feet had been built. In the distance, to the 
south, is the range of hills which hides San Pedro and the 
harbor. Further west, in the plain, is Inglewood, with its 
avenues of green trees. By their smoke you may watch 
the course of trains on their way from Redondo and San 
Pedro to the city. Still farther west is the low range of 
Ballona hills. Just to the right of where they terminate 
you may, on a clear day, plainly see the ocean glittering 
in the sun through a break in the sand banks which line 
the beach. 

The elevated group of large residences near in, to your 
right, is Angeleno Heights, the highest residence section 
of the city. Behind, to the west, extends the country be¬ 
tween Los Angeles and Santa Monica. The Arcadia 
Hotel and the gum trees on Ocean Avenue at the latter 
place may be easily distinguished on a clear day, and clear 
days are the rule in Los Angeles. To the right of Santa 
Monica, in the foothills, is the group of buildings compos¬ 
ing the Soldiers’ Home, where fifteen hundred of the vet- 


9° 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH . 


erans are domiciled. The Cahuenga range of moun¬ 
tains frames the picture on the northwest. Along the 
slopes of its foothills are dotted here and there a few 
houses, the precursors of thousands that will be built in 
this beautiful semi-tropic valley as soon as better means 
of communication are furnished and the large ranches di¬ 
vided up. 

Now go around to the northern side of the reservoir 
and another beautiful, though very different, scene meets 
your gaze. The hill upon which you stand slopes abruptly 
down several hundred feet, its sides covered with a dense 
growth of white sage, thyme, and laurel, to a peaceful 
A^alley, where an old ranch house is set in the midst of an 
orchard and vegetable garden. A couple of brick-kilns 
are the only other evidences of human activity. Further 
down the valley the Jewish cemetery, its white tombs 
gleaming out from the shades of a sombre olive grove, 
accentuate the rural character of the scene. Not half a 
dozen houses are visible, look whichever way you may. 
If planted down here suddenly, you would never dream 
that you were within the limits of a city of over seventy 
thousand population and not over thirty minutes’ walk 
from the business center. Yet this is so, the northern line 
of the city limits being two miles from where you stand. 
It is not necessary to inform you after this that the city 
has been growing in a southerly direction. On the other 
side of the valley are a succession of wild, rolling hills, one 
above another, and still farther, closing the background, 
the dark, rocky Sierra Madre range of mountains, its crest 
fringed with pine trees, which at the distance look like 
blades of grass. An opening between the hills allows a 
few white specks nestling at their base to be distinguished. 
These are cottages in the Crescenta Canada. 

After looking your full upon this fair scene, follow the 
path along the crest of the hill a distance of about half a 
mile to the east. You have constantly in view on the right 


LOS ANGELES. 


9 1 


the populous city and on the left the peaceful valley, with 
its background of mountains. A walk of twenty minutes 
brings you to the Downey Avenue branch of the cable 
railroad at the south end of the viaduct. Boarding a 
north-bound car, you are quickly whisked over the long 
viaduct, a remarkable structure, built on single iron pil¬ 
lars, said to be the only one of its kind in the country. Its 
purpose is to keep the cable road from the numerous 
Southern Pacific tracks and switches which pass below. 
Beyond the viaduct on the left is the long freight depot 
of the Southern Pacific Company, loaded with merchan¬ 
dise of every description. Beyond the freight sheds is the 
passenger depot. It is now almost deserted, but was a 
bristling place until seven years ago, when the passenger 
offices were removed to the new Arcade depot, nearly 
two miles south. The neighborhood of the old depot has 
felt the effect of the change, and has rather a woe-begone 
appearance. All trains on the Southern Pacific, except 
those to and from the East, still stop at San Fernando 
Street. 

A ride of a few minutes more and the Los Angeles 
River is crossed over an elevated bridge. During the 
summer season it is a narrow stream, which a good vaulter 
could leap over, and the unsophisticated stranger looks 
with wonder at the big levees on each side of the wide, 
dry bed. Let him visit it, however, in winter, after there 
has been a heavy rainfall in the mountains, and he will 
see a deep, swiftly moving torrent, filling the river bed 
from bank to bank, and frequently carrying down a mass 
of driftwood and big timber. When the Los Angeles 
River, innocent-looking as it is, has gone on a rampage, 
there have been anxious times for the residents along its 
banks, to whom the completion of the levees came as a 
welcome relief. 

The. visitor is now in East Los Angeles, one of the 
prettiest residence sections of the city. As the car moves 


92 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


up Downey Avenue, a broad thoroughfare lined with 
graceful pepper trees, the tasteful residences on either 
side, set back in lovely gardens and half smothered in 
climbing vines, can not fail to arouse admiration. Just 
before reaching the end of the track alight and take a 
road on your left—Thomas Street—which mounts grad¬ 
ually up a ridge of high hills, on the summit of which 
stand a few gum trees. There is a good path, and a climb 
of fifteen minutes or so brings you to the summit, where 
you may enjoy the finest view to be had in or near the city. 
You are here much higher than at your previous point 
of observation. The city as seen from this hill makes a 
different picture. It is more at a distance and you see 
much of it that was hidden from your former “ coigne of 
vantage.” Stretching away from the foot of the hill upon 
which you stand, East Los Angeles looks like a vast for¬ 
est or park, so thickly is it embowered in shade trees. To 
your left you get a fine view of Boyle Heights. On the 
north and east the scenery is striking in the extreme. Cut¬ 
ting its narrow passage through the high hills from the 
north, flows the Los Angeles River. You can trace the 
valley as it opens out toward Burbank, above the mouth 
of the Arroyo Seco, adown which ravine comes the moun¬ 
tain stream of that name from Pasadena, a portion of 
which city is visible. In the background are a succession 
of mountains, ending in the Sierra Madre, which from 
this point appears quite near. There rises in the mind of 
the beholder the thought: What a magnificent site for 
a big hotel! A branch cable track could easily be run up 
this hill from Downey Avenue. A resort here would soon 
become world-famous. Right here it should be remarked 
that there are few cities in the world that offer so many pic¬ 
turesque building sites and grand views as does Los An¬ 
geles. A month may be spent in explorations and still 
fresh beauties be found. 

If you had time, by going a little beyond the cable 


LOS ANGELES. 


93 


road terminus you would come to a pretty little lake, set 
in a framework of hills; but this would extend the trip 
beyond the limits of a day. Therefore return to the point 
at which you left the car and ride back to town. You will 
now take a ride of six miles in one direction without leav¬ 
ing the city limits. After recrossing the viaduct you pass 
through “ Sonora Town,” an interesting Spanish adobe 
section, once the Los Angeles, now mostly composed of di¬ 
lapidated adobe houses, interspersed on the main thor¬ 
oughfare with large brick warehouses. Toward the plaza 
the Chinese divide the retail business with the paisanos. 
This is old Los Angeles, the Los Angeles of’Si and’51,and 
is rapidly passing away. It would have disappeared much 
more quickly were it not for the fact that the city is grow¬ 
ing in the other direction. The car jolts you as it makes 
a sharp turn, and you are at the plaza. This is the geo¬ 
graphical center of the city, and twenty years ago was an 
important center of business, before Spring Street was 
thought of as a prominent business thoroughfare. In the 
center of the open space is a little circular park with large 
rubber trees that have a stately appearance. On the right 
is the long, low plastered Catholic church, erected, as an 
inscription tells, by los filiclcs de csta parroquia to the Queen 
of the Angels in 1861. It was built much earlier, but was 
repaired in that year. On the south of the plaza is China¬ 
town, a section of the celestial kingdom set down in Cali¬ 
fornia. The strangeness of the sights here is only exceed¬ 
ed by the strength of the smells which emanate from the 
celestial region below and rise to the heavens above. At 
the southeast corner of the plaza is the Pico House, twelve 
years ago the leading hotel of the city. A year ago you 
might have seen Don Pio Pico himself, the venerable non¬ 
agenarian ex-Governor, seated in front of the building, 
both alike relics of former and, to them, more flourishing 
days. A little farther south, on Main Street, is the Baker 
Block, for many years the chief business building in Los 


94 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


Angeles, and still standing forth as an imposing edifice 
of pleasing architecture. 

At the Temple Block the car passes into Spring Street, 
rivalling Broadway as the leading retail business street 
in the city. Here all is bustle, and fine business blocks 
multiply. The Phillips Block on your right, a little north 
of First Street, is especially noticeable. On a Saturday 
afternoon and evening Spring Street, from Temple Block 
to Third, precents a lively and attractive scene, with its 
brilliantly lighted stores and dense crowd of purchasers 
and promenaders on the sidewalks. At the corner of 
Spring and First Streets the car turns into the latter thor¬ 
oughfare, where the Boyle Heights line branches off. This 
is at present regarded as the business center of the city, 
and a busy place it is, cable and electric cars constantly 
coming and going, besides a multitude of other vehicles, 
while the sidewalks are thronged with hurrying pedestri¬ 
ans. At the southwest corner is the Nadean Hotel. One 
block westward on First Street and the car turns into 
Broadway. At the northeast corner, unique in its archi¬ 
tecture, is the castellated granite abode of The Times. 
Broadway, formerly called Fort Street, after an old forti¬ 
fication on the hill which you see to the north, is the com¬ 
ing retail business street of Los Angeles, a handsome 
thoroughfare, smoothly paved with asphaltum. First 
Street hill is being cut through to the west. On Broad¬ 
way are many handsome buildings. Two blocks north 
of First Street is the imposing Courthouse which you 
passed when you started out on your trip up Temple 
Street this morning. Proceeding southward, at Second 
Street you will perhaps see one of the swiftly-gliding cars 
of the electric railroad pass. At the southwest corner of 
Second Street and Broadway is a very handsome block, 
on a part of which the Young Men’s Christian Associa¬ 
tion has its home. The architectural features of this build¬ 
ing are striking. A little farther south is the new City 


LOS ANGELES. 


95 


Hall, an imposing structure, patterned after a German 
town hall of the Middle Ages. At the corner of Third 
Street is the large Bradbury Block, and at the corner of 
Fourth Street the Chamber of Commerce Building, which 
is well worth a visit. At Sixth Street you will catch a 
glimpse of a little park a block west of that street. It is 
the most tastefully improved open space in the city, and 
furnished with plenty of seats for the wayfarer. The large 
brick building in the rear, at the head of Fifth Street, is 
the Normal School. 

At Seventh Street the car runs west for three blocks, 
and again turns south on Grand Avenue, where the Sev¬ 
enth Street electric line branches off to Westlake Park. 
Grand Avenue, formerly known as Charity Street, is one 
of the most fashionable residence streets in the city, hav¬ 
ing many imposing houses, but the visitor from an East¬ 
ern city will probably admire this street less than some 
others where more time and expense have been lavished 
on the grounds and a little less on the buildings. In a city 
which contains over thirty thousand acres there is little 
excuse for putting a fifty-thousand-dollar house on a fifty- 
foot lot. The large building at the corner of Washington 
Street is St. Vincents College, the Roman Catholic insti¬ 
tution which was removed there several years ago, when 
the old site on Sixth Street came into demand for busi¬ 
ness purposes. 

Get off at Adams Street and walk a few blocks west. 
Adams Street for a couple of blocks west of Figueroa is 
undoubtedly the most beautiful street in Los Angeles, 
and it is doubtful if it can be surpassed anywhere. The 
lots are all large, as they should be in this city, running 
into acres instead of front feet. Large drooping pepper 
trees hang over the cement sidewalks, on the outer edge 
of which is planted turf. The residences—large buildings, 
each with an architectural individuality of its own—are 
set well back from the street in carefully-kept grounds, 





A Los Angeles Residence, 










































































LOS ANGELES. 


97 


which are realized dreams of semi-tropical beauty. Large 
date and fan palms, grevillas, magnolias, orange, and 
other graceful trees cast their shade upon park-like lawns 
of brilliant green; roses, jasmine, and heliotrope cover 
porches, trellises, and carriage houses; flaming gerani¬ 
ums and snow-white calla lilies form big hedges, and 
morning-glories wantonly climb to the very top of tall 
evergreen trees, hanging from the branches in graceful 
festoons, while lovely flowers of every hue grow in such 
lavish profusion as to need, not encouragement, but con¬ 
stant repression at the hand of the gardener. It must pro¬ 
duce a curious impression upon the visitor from the snow- 
clad plains of Minnesota and Dakota, as he views this 
scene on a winter day, while a southern sun invites him to 
court the shade. Such a picture does more missionary 
work for Southern California in five minutes than a ton 
of pamphlets filled with climatic statistics can accom¬ 
plish in as many years. There are scores, if not hundreds, 
of houses in Los Angeles as beautiful as any of these, but 
in other places a vacant lot with neglected trees, or a vul¬ 
gar building atrociously colored, will intervene to mar the 
picture. Here there is no break in the vista of beauty, 
and the result is a scene which delights while it rests the 
eye at the same time, showing what can be accomplished 
here when taste and wealth go hand in hand. 

Figueroa Street, to which you now return, is the bon 
ion residence street of the city. It and its northern exten¬ 
sion, Pearl Street, extend for nearly five miles from north 
to south. On this street are to be found some of the hand¬ 
somest residences in Southern California, many of them 
standing in grounds of rare beauty. You can take an 
electric car to Seventh Street and P>roadway, where you 
can board a Seventh Street car for Westlake Park. Sev¬ 
enth Street is another favorite residence street and is des¬ 
tined to become an important thoroughfare, as it extends 
from the western to the eastern city limits. It is elevated, 


9 8 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH . 


which, to many, gives it a preference over the southwest¬ 
ern part of the city. Westlake Park, on the western city 
limits, is a pretty, breezy spot. It will gain much in 
beauty after the trees shall have attained a larger growth. 
The lake is well provided with boats, which are liberally 
patronized, and a band plays once a week. A climb of 
a few minutes up one of the surrounding hills will reward 
you with some expansive views of the country between 
Los Angeles and the ocean. 

Returning to the car, you may now take another little 
ride of about six miles from west to east. After passing 
the business center the car proceeds down East First 
Street three quarters of a mile, crossing the river on a fine 
elevated viaduct. Down below, on the right, is the Santa Fe 
station, an attractive building of the early Mission style. 
From Boyle Heights you get a good view of Los Angeles 
from the east. This suburb has settled up rapidly since 
the cable railroad was opened. An electric road will soon 
be built. On Boyle Avenue, at the top of the bluff near 
the river, are some beautiful homes, which it would be 
worth your while to walk by if you had the time. High 
elevation and gravelly soil make Boyle Heights a spe¬ 
cially desirable residence section from a hygienic point of 
view. The engine house is soon passed and the car 
comes to a stop at Evergreen Cemetery. 

Returning by the same car, get off at Spring Street 
and take the electric car for Vernon, a distance of about 
three miles to the south, passing on your way the Arcade 
station of the Southern Pacific. Vernon is a beautiful sub¬ 
urb, whose orchards and vineyards were fortunately not 
cut up into town lots during the boom. Much of the fruit 
consumed in Los Angeles comes from this section. There 
are few grand houses, but cozy cottage homes, half buried 
under great shade trees and surrounded by heavily bear¬ 
ing orchards of oranges, peaches, apricots, pears, and 
other fruits, which, with berry patches and alfalfa fields, 



Residence, Adams Street, Los Angeles. 









































100 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


make the happy owner of five acres here much more in¬ 
dependent than some owners of a fifty-foot lot on Figue¬ 
roa Street or Grand Avenue who lie awake o’ nights won¬ 
dering where they shall raise the money to pay off their 
mortgages. Striking instances of what may be accom¬ 
plished on a few acres in Southern California may be 



Dragoon Palm. 

found at Vernon. Of late a vast amount of building has 
been done in the Central Avenue section this side of Ver¬ 
non, several hundred fine residences having been erected 
during the past year. 




























LOS ANGELES. 


IOI 


Returning to the city, you have now finished your first 
clay’s ride as laid out for you, and being probably by this 
time rather tired, we shall only ask you to lunch and then 
walk down Main Street as far as Fifth, passing the Catho¬ 
lic Cathedral, the Westminster Hotel, and the Federal 
Building—a building which requires enlargement beyond 
the original plans. A larger appropriation is expected, 
and a Government building befitting a city of the size and 
prospects of Los Angeles. Turn up Fifth Street into 
Spring and walk back along that street to First, noticing 
the massive Bryson-Bonebrake Block at the corner of 
Second Street. 

On another day you should take the electric car from 
Spring Street to the end of the line beyond the University, 
passing through the most thickly settled residence section 
of the city, most of the building in which has been done 
within the past five years. 

Another trip that should not be overlooked, and which 
can be made within an hour, is to the oil wells, about a 
mile west of Spring Street. These can be reached either 
by the First Street electric or the Temple Street cable 
line in ten minutes. 

The Pacific and Pasadena electric cars leave Fourth 
Street, between Spring and Broadway, every fifteen min¬ 
utes, and quickly reach the beautiful city of Pasadena, 
the round trip being made in two hours. 

You have now obtained as good a general view of Los 
Angeles as it is possible to get within a couple of days, 
missing no important features, at a total cost of not more 
than seventy-five cents for car fares. The impression made 
upon you can scarcely fail to be a favorable one, but it will 
lack the element of wonder which overcomes those who 
return to Los Angeles after an absence of ten or even five 
years. If your time permits, you may, as aforesaid, travel 
around within the citv for a month and see something new 
every day. The discovery of dainty homes that are bcau- 


L OF C. 



San Pedro Street, Los Angeles. 
























































































































































































































LOS ANGELES. 


103 


ty-spots, and new and strange vegetation, will reward such 
fresh exploration. Much of Los Angeles is almost a 
terra incognita to many of our own residents, in spite of 
the fact that rapid and frequent transit has to a great ex¬ 
tent annihilated distance. 

The Los Angeles Crematory. 

Los Angeles is not behind other cities of its size in 
regard to cemeteries, of which there are five. The Roman 
Catholic Cemetery is beautifully located on an elevation 
on Buena Vista Street, just overlooking the Southern .Pa¬ 
cific depot. The City Cemetery is situated on Castellar 
Street, between Bellevue Avenue and Sand Street. The 
Hebrew burying ground is on Reservoir Street. These 
three are old cemeteries, and are near the center of the 
city. Chief among the new places of sepulture is Ever¬ 
green Cemetery, on Aliso Avenue. It is reached directly 
by the First .Street railway. The Rosedale, on West 
Washington Street, can be reached by the electric rail¬ 
way. At the Rosedale Cemetery there is the only crema¬ 
tory in the United States west of the Rocky Mountains. 
It was built by the Los Angeles Crematory Society, under 
the supervision of an expert who came for that purpose. 
The first incineration took place in June, 1887. The body, 
which had been regularly interred a few months previous¬ 
ly, was that of the wife of Dr. O. B. Bird, a prominent 
homoeopathic physician. The cremation was a complete 
success, and attracted as much attention as the most san¬ 
guine friend of the movement could have wished. Dr. 
Bird took his wife’s remains, now reduced to a few ashes, 
in a little package and went a short distance out to sea, 
where he cast them solemnly upon the breast of the great 
Pacific. The boatman whom Dr. Bird had employed was 
very much excited at such a mysterious manoeuvre, and 
with some friends returned to the spot and did some fruit¬ 
less dredging. 


104 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


Los Angeles a Cosmopolitan City. 

Los Angeles is cosmopolitan. Almost every nation 
under the sun is represented. The genuine American, 
who talks plain English with Yankee modifications, is 
the controlling element whenever he asserts himself, but 
there are also many foreigners here. One of the best for¬ 
eign elements is the Irish. While Eastern cities com¬ 
plain of ignorant Irishmen, Los Angeles can boast that 
many of her most intelligent citizens are from the Emer¬ 
ald Isle. 

Lion. John G. Downey, an Irishman who lived and 
died in Los Angeles, was one of California’s noted Gov¬ 
ernors, having had the helm of state at the beginning of 
the war, when he evinced his patriotism and ability by 
successfully thwarting the designs of the numerous Pa¬ 
cific coast Southern sympathizers. 

Hon. E. F. Spence was another Irishman who spent the 
last quarter century of his life in Los Angeles. He was 
Mayor of the city, president of one of our leading banks, 
and foremost in educational and philanthropic enter¬ 
prises. 

Hon. Andrew Mullen, Treasurer of the Los Angeles 
Chamber of Commerce, President of the Board of Trus¬ 
tees of the Whittier State School, and one of our leading 
merchants and bankers, is another Irishman who reflects 
credit on both his adopted city and his native isle. 

There are Irish lawyers, Irish clergymen, Irish doc¬ 
tors, and Irish merchants, who are a credit to the land of 
their adoption. 

Of Germans there are many. They support two ex¬ 
cellent papers and rank among our most progressive peo¬ 
ple. The Turnverein Society is a rich and influential 
German organization. The German Lutheran Church, 
corner of Eighth and Flower Streets; the German Meth¬ 
odist Episcopal Church, on Fourth, between Hill and 


LOS ANGELES. 


105 


Broadway; and the German Evangelical Church, near 
the corner of Olive and Seventh Streets, are all quite 
wealthy organizations and completely out of debt. Hon. 
L. J. Rose, a native of Germany, has been the State Sena¬ 
tor from Los Angeles; and Isaias W. Heilman, also a 
native of that country, is a member of the Board of Re¬ 
gents of the California State University and one of the 
leading financiers of the State. Although Scandinavians 
instinctively seek a colder clime, yet there are several hun¬ 
dred of them here, with their churches and societies. The 
French are here in large numbers. They comprise all 
classes, from the ignorant Breton who labors on the 
streets to those who were high in the graces of Napoleon 
III and bear titles of nobility. Two weekly papers are 
published in the French and one in the Basque language. 

There are several thousand persons of English birth 
residing in Los Angeles and vicinity. Their native land 
is ably represented here bv Hon. C. White Mortimer, 
Esq., British vice-consul, whose office is in Temple Block, 
corner of Maine and Market Streets. The Queen's Jubi¬ 
lee was celebrated in Los Angeles with great eclat. D. 
Freeman, Esq., a wealthy member of the English colony, 
is one of the best-known and most popular citizens of the 
county. 

Canadians are very numerous, and almost all have, 
soon after their location here, become citizens of the Unit¬ 
ed States. The late Hon. P. Beaudry, formerly of Montreal, 
was Mayor of Los Angeles; Dr. H. Nadeau has been 
Coroner of Los Angeles County, and President of the Los 
Angeles County Medical Society. W. W. Robinson, a 
native of Nova Scotia, has held several important public 
positions, was for eight consecutive years city auditor, 
, and for six years Mayor's clerk. There are also several 
hundred Scotchmen in Los Angeles, and they have a 
Caledonian Club, where the bagpipe rends the atmosphere 
with its alleged music. 


io 6 CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 

The Spanish-speaking population has already been re¬ 
ferred to. Scores of them have held important positions, 
from that of Congressman down to that of constable, and 
their records in these places have ever been honorable 
and praiseworthy. The names of Del Valle, Coronel, 
Dominguez, Pacheco, Sepulveda, and Estudillo will al¬ 
ways hold an honorable position in the annals of Cali¬ 
fornia del Sur. 

The Chinese are a prominent factor in the population 
of Los Angeles. There are between two and three thou¬ 
sand of them. They were formerly very extensively em¬ 
ployed as servants for general housework, but latterly 
trained white and colored servants are gradually taking 
their places. The Chinaman, as a rule, with occasional 
exceptions, is not desirable help. He is dishonest, gen¬ 
erally insolent, and, after making the rolls and dessert 
for the family dinner, spends his nights gambling in the 
dirty hovels of Chinatown. The family relation is almost 
unknown to the Chinese in America. Their associations 
are of the vilest kind. They are in a condition of peonage, 
being owned body and soul by one or another of the Six 
Companies, which imports them to this country. 

Each morning every house in the city is visited by a 
Chinaman with his one-horse wagon loaded with vegeta¬ 
bles and small fruits. The laundries run day and night, 
Sunday and week day. The butchers deal principally in 
pork, which is the Chinaman’s chief meat. The mer¬ 
chants deal in Chinese specialties, and do also a private 
banking business. The restaurants are not extensively 
patronized by whites. The porky, greasy, nauseating 
smell is too much for the average Caucasian stomach. 
Then, again, the Chinaman, when he wishes to remove 
the feathers of a chicken, has a peculiar way of putting 
the live fowl into boiling water. This may shock the 
nerves of the sensitive American, but the Mongolian has 
a special gleam of delight in his almond eyes as he watches 


LOS ANGELES. 


107 


the chicken squirming in the kettle. The opium-joint is 
a typical Chinese institution. There are probably a hun¬ 
dred of these vile dens in Los Angeles, where Chinese, 
white prostitutes, and fast young men spend night and 
day smoking opium, or, as it is technically called, “ hit¬ 
ting the pipe.” 

The Chinese present a great field for missionary work. 
The Methodist Episcopal and Presbyterian churches have 
missions in Los Angeles. A clergyman, who has been 
a missionary in China and in California, says, “ Twenty 
dollars will do as much toward converting Chinamen in 
China as one hundred dollars will in California.” He 
says the difficulty is that, when they come to the United 
States, they are bent solely on making money and return¬ 
ing to the Flowery Kingdom. They have no time for re¬ 
ligion, and attend the missions, not through religious in¬ 
terest, but to learn the English language, and thereby 
increase the value of their services. 

Every tourist should visit Chinatown twice—once in 
the daytime and once at night. The best way to see the 
sights at night is to obtain the escort of a policeman, who 
will always be able to conduct him through the opium- 
joints, gambling houses, and other dens of Chinese in¬ 
iquity. 

Religious and Educational. 

It may without boasting be said that there are few 
cities in the United States of equal size which can offer as 
good religious and educational facilities as Los Angeles. 
Many of the best teachers of the United States are attract¬ 
ed here. The course of study in the public schools ex¬ 
tends over a period of twelve years—from the kinder¬ 
garten, through the high school, whose graduates are fit 
to enter the State University. Over one thousand of the 
census school children of the city attend private schools. 

The Los Angeles High School, one of the finest build- 


io8 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


ings in the city, offers a liberal course of study, supple¬ 
menting and extending ordinary grammar-school work. 
In the building are about twenty-five rooms, including 
gymnasium, lunch rooms, library, laboratory, auditori¬ 
um, etc. 

The California State Normal School, which stands 
on a site of five acres, donated by the citizens of Los 
Angeles, is one of the most prosperous institutions of 
learning on the coast. The entire course—embracing 
English literature and language, the sciences and arts— 
requires three years. Two classes are graduated annual¬ 
ly—in May and December. The State school laws favor 
graduates of the normal schools to the extent of issuing 
them teacher’s certificates on presentation of their di¬ 
plomas. The training school, consisting of a department 
of the city public schools, which is connected with the in¬ 
stitution, enables the undergraduates to acquire practical 
experience in conducting classes. The faculty is com¬ 
posed of the most efficient educators to be obtained. The 
work of the teachers is greatly facilitated by the liberal 
way in which the school is equipped with many valuable 
instruments necessary to properly conduct the course of 
studies, and a judiciously selected library. 

The work of the school throughout Southern Cali¬ 
fornia is supplemented by a large number of specialists 
in music, painting, and every department of art. There 
are three excellent gymnasiums in Los Angeles, where 
classes of young people and adults are taught. Two ex¬ 
tensive and thoroughly equipped business colleges pre¬ 
pare a large number of young men and women for the 
practical work of life. With one of these institutions there 
is affiliated a complete law school. 

There are a number of colleges in Southern California, 
founded by religious bodies and others, which compare 
favorably with anything of a similar description in the 
East. x 


LOS ANGELES. 


IO9 


The University of Southern California opened its 
doors October 6, 1880. The principal university build¬ 
ings are in West Los Angeles, on Wesley Avenue, and 
may be reached by the cars of the electric line. There 
are here two large buildings—one a frame structure oc¬ 
cupied by the College of Music, the other a massive brick 
edifice occupied by the College of Letters. In the former 
the faculty consists of four, and in the latter there are ten 
professors and instructors. 

The College of Medicine of this university, which has 
been in successful operation for over ten years, is located 
near the center of the city of Los Angeles, in their new 
capacious building on Buena Vista Street. J. P. Wid- 
ney, A. M., M. D., is dean. The faculty numbers 
eighteen physicians and teachers. This institution re¬ 
quires a course of four years. Its regular session begins 
the second Wednesdav in October and closes the third 
Wednesday in April. The intermediate session opens 
the first Wednesday in May and closes the last Wednes¬ 
day in June. 

The Presbyterians, Catholics, and Baptists also have 
colleges. That of the latter sect, west of the city 
limits, has recently been affiliated with the University 
of Chicago. The Friends (Quakers) have a college 
at Whittier, and the Dunkards have a college at Lords- 
burg. 

It only needs a glance from one of the hills to con¬ 
vince any one that Los Angeles is a religious city. On 
every side church spires and towers may be seen peeping 
out among the trees. There are sixty church organiza¬ 
tions in Los Angeles, representing all the denominations 
in the country. Most of the religious bodies have attrac¬ 
tive and comfortable, and in many cases very ornamental, 
buildings. Among the denominations the Methodist 
Episcopal is in the lead from a numerical standpoint, hav¬ 
ing fifteen churches; the Presbyterian and the Congrega- 


I 10 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH 


tional come next, with seven each, while the Catholics 
have five. 

The Los Angeles Public Library, located in the City 
Hall, is well known by reputation among the librarians 
of the country as one of the most progressive and effi¬ 
cient libraries of any city of equal size in the United States. 
Recently there were 13,495 people enrolled as active mem¬ 
bers, who drew for home use 267,054 volumes. This 
places Los Angeles eighth among the great cities of the 
country in the number of volumes circulated for home 
use, it being ahead of Cleveland and Cincinnati. 

The benevolent associations of a city give a good idea 
of the character of its citizens. Judged by this standard, 
Los Angeles ranks high. The Catholic Orphan Asylum, 
one of the most imposing buildings in the city, occupies 
an elevated site on Boyle Heights. It is one of the oldest 
institutions in Los Angeles, but has only been in its pres¬ 
ent location about two years, and is doing a large amount 
of good work. Among such establishments is the Protes¬ 
tant Orphan Asylum, which is now in its fifteenth year; 
the large brick building was erected in 1887. The aver¬ 
age number of inmates has been about one hundred and 
fifty, a majority of whom are boys. The State pays sev¬ 
enty-five dollars a year each for half-orphans and one hun¬ 
dred dollars for full orphans, the balance being raised by 
voluntary contributions. 

The Young Men’s Christian Association occupies a 
floor and basement in the building at the corner of Sec¬ 
ond Street and Broadway. It is doing active and success¬ 
ful work, and is steadily growing in membership. Con¬ 
certs and lectures are given to members. There are also 
free evening schools under good teachers. The gym¬ 
nasium is one of the best in the State; it and the baths 
are largely patronized. Religious work keeps pace with 
the other departments. 

The Young Women’s Christian Association has been 


LOS ANGELES. 


I I I 

recently organized, and has become quite popular. Like 
the Young Men’s Christian Association, it is open to all 
persons of good moral character, whether they belong to 
any church organization or not. 

One of the most active charitable organizations in the 
city is the Ladies’ Benevolent Society, organized about 
fifteen years ago. This society is supported entirely by 
voluntary contributions, its object being to relieve all 
kinds of distress. Clothing and employment, as well 
money, are furnished to hundreds of persons annually. 

A movement for organized charitable work was start- 
ed in Los Angeles a few months ago under the name of 
the Associated Charities. The membership is only one 
dollar a year. The object is to systematize the work of 
charity so that the greatest possible good may be done 
with the smallest amount of money, and at the same time 
that worthy cases may be separated from those which are 
undeserving. 

The Los Angeles Humane Society, composed of the 
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and the 
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, is very 
efficient. 

The Florence Home is a refuge for wayward girls who 
desire to lead another life. Quite a number have already 
been assisted. 

The News and Working-boys’ Home and free reading 
room was established in 1890 by a young man who came 
to the coast from Chicago with Moody, the evangelist. 
Since then it has been much enlarg-ed. The boys are 
taught to be independent and to look upon their relation 
to the home as a purely business one, a small charge being 
made for meals and lodging. The Home is managed by 
a matron, assisted by a number of benevolent society 
ladies. 

The Flower Festival Boarding Home on East Fourth 
Street is an institution which has accomplished a great 


I 12 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH 


amount of good. The idea is to furnish a comfortable 
home for self-sustaining young women, who pay a rate 
in accordance to the wages which they receive. There 
is accommodation for sixty boarders, who at a very mod¬ 
erate rate enjoy the privileges of wholesome meals, cheer¬ 
ful rooms, the use of a sewing machine, piano, small 
library, etc. The Society of King’s Daughters is an active 
one in Los Angeles; it was organized in 1888, with Mrs. 
Eliza A. Otis as president. 

There are other worthy charitable and benevolent so¬ 
cieties whose operations are confined to certain classes 
for whose benefit they are specially intended. Among 
these may be mentioned the British, French, and Italian 
Benevolent Societies, the German Ladies’ Benevolent 
Association, the Italian United and Fraternal Garibaldi 
Society, the Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Young Men’s Chris¬ 
tian Association, and the Los Angeles Association of the 
Deaf. 

Secret and fraternal organizations abound in Los An¬ 
geles. Among the orders showing the greatest strength, 
both in lodges and point of membership, are the 
Masonic fraternities, the Odd Fellows, Workmen, Hi¬ 
bernians, Knights and Ladies of Honor, Elks, Catholic 
Knights of America, Chosen Friends, Grand Army of the 
Republic, Military Order of the Loyal Legion, Red Men, 
Good Templars, Knights of Pythias, Maccabees, and Na¬ 
tive Sons of the Golden West. Other orders are the 
Native Daughters, Modern Woodmen, Sons of Veterans, 
Royal Arcanum, Sons of Herman, Knights of the Golden 
Eagle, Knights of Robert Emmet, B’nai B’rith, and In¬ 
dependent Order of Foresters. 

The Los Angeles County Medical Society was organ¬ 
ized January 31, 1871, with Dr. John S. Griffin as presi¬ 
dent. The presidents since then have been Drs. R. H. 
Dalton, Joseph P. Widney, Henry Sayre Orme, Joseph 
Kurtz, Walter Lindley, H. Nadeau, W. G. Cochrane, F. 


LOS ANGELES. 


I 13 

A. Seymour, Andrew McFarland, F. T. Bicknell, G. W. 
Lasher, W. L. Wills, J. H. Davisson, M. L. Moore, W. 
W. Hitchcock, William Dodge, D. G. MacGowan, O. D. 
Fitzgerald, and Henry G. Brainerd. 

The membership includes the best of the regular 
school of physicians, some one hundred and ten in num¬ 
ber. The meetings are held the first and third Friday even¬ 
ings in each month in the assembly hall of the Chamber 
of Commerce, corner of Broadwav and Fourth Streets. 
Dr. J. S. Griffin, the first president, is still a Los Angeles 
practitioner. He graduated at the University of Penn¬ 
sylvania in 1837, entered the United States Army as as¬ 
sistant surgeon, and, after serving in Florida and New 
Mexico, came to Los Angeles as chief surgeon of General 
Kearny’s forces. 

The doctor is now nearly eighty years of age, the Nes- 
toi of the medical profession of Southern California. His 
family was noted in Virginia, his native State. One of his 
sisters was the wife of the late General Albert Sidney 
Johnston, and now lives in Los Angeles with her two sons 
and one daughter. ' 

The Southern California Homoeopathic Medical So¬ 
ciety meets on the second Wednesday in October each 
year. Dr. J. S. Hodge, of Pasadena, is president, and 
S. Worcester, of Los Angeles, secretary. 


Parks. 

In the line of parks it must be confessed that Los An¬ 
geles has not yet made so much progress as might have 
been wished. As against this it must be remembered that 
it is only a few years since the whole surrounding country 
was open and park-like, so that the people did not feel 
the necessity for any artificial breathing place. A begin¬ 
ning is, however, being made in park improvement. The 
people are awakening to the importance of the question. 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


I 14 

The city has given away enough land to make a dozen 
large parks, and now it has nothing more to give. What¬ 
ever is further acquired must be by purchase or donation. 
Every year land becomes more valuable, and what is done 
in this direction will have to be done quickly. There are 
seven public parks within the city limits, aggregating 
six hundred acres, of which five sixths is in Elysian Park. 

Westlake Park, thirty-five acres in extent, at the end 
of the Seventh Street cable road, is the most popular 
open-air resort in the city, and has received most atten¬ 
tion from the Park Commissioners. It has a lake, with 
boats, music on occasion, fine drives and walks, and grand 
views from adjacent hills. Much of the soil is alkaline, 
which prevents vegetation from making such progress 
as it otherwise would, yet the results achieved in floral 
growth are very attractive. It is doubtful, however, 
whether luxuriant vegetation will ever be a prominent 
feature of this park. 

The park in East Los Angeles, commonly called East- 
side Park, covers fifty acres, and has been made quite at¬ 
tractive. A large grove of eucalyptus has been planted 
on the side hills. There is a lake in the center of the 
grounds, grass lawns, and many varieties of ornamental 
trees—bamboos, palms, lilies, etc. Most of this work has 
been done during the past couple of years, about fifteen 
thousand dollars having been expended. Roads have 
been macadamized and the banks of the lake riprapped. 
In this park are the nursery, propagating houses, and 
greenhouses from which all the parks are supplied. There 
is a strip between the park and Reservoir No. 5 about 
twenty-five acres in extent, which would make a good ad¬ 
dition to the park for the purpose of growing semi-aquatic 
plants. 

Prospect Park, on Boyle Heights—also on the east 
side of the river—is a beautiful place, though small, cov¬ 
ering only a city block. There are extensive views of 



A Country Home near Los Angeles (Pepper Trees in foreground). 
































































U6 CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 

mountain and valley scenery, and the square is adorned 
with many choice trees and shrubs. In a small pond are 
water lilies, including the Nymphia arosca and Victoria 
regia. 

The oldest and best improved of the city parks—ex¬ 
cept the place known as the Old Plaza—is the Sixth 
Street (Central) Park, which occupies a city block only, 
but is a gem, and a good example of what can be done 
here in this line. The park is well provided with benches, 
which are generally occupied. This park will be before 
many years in the center of the retail business section of 
the city. 

The old circular Plaza—the geographical center of 
the city—is kept in good order. A public market is held 
around this space in the early morning hours. 

Elysian Park is the only park of considerable size, a 
remnant of the thousands of acres of such land which the 
city formerly owned. It may safely be said that this tract 
offers the greatest possibilities for a diversity of growths 
of any piece of ground within the limits of an American 
municipality. Much of the land is within the frostless 
belt of the Cahuenga foothills. The views of mountain, 
valley and ocean, city and plain, are grand in the extreme. 
At present the park is almost in a state of nature, except 
that over fifty thousand eucalyptus and other trees have 
been planted and a road graded through it. There are 
possibilities in this unique park site (for it is little more at 
present) which strike all newcomers, and wonder is often 
expressed that so little has been done to develop the nat¬ 
ural attractions of this beautiful tract. One of the chief 
reasons why so little has been done as yet in this direc¬ 
tion is that Elysian Park is at present not very easily 
reached by the street-car systems, and consequently it 
is not frequented by the masses of the people as it might 
be. There is, however, a growing feeling among the citi¬ 
zens that a large portion of the future park appropriations 


LOS ANGELES. 


n 7 

should be spent upon Elysian Park, and there is no doubt 
that the next few years will witness a great transforma¬ 
tion in the appearance of the tract. 

Hollenbeck Park is a tract of about twenty acres on 
the east side of the river in Boyle Heights, which was pre¬ 
sented to the city a few years ago by Mrs. Hollenbeck. 
It has been improved with shade trees and a lake has been 
formed in a natural depression. It is a small park, but 
promises to become a very attractive one after the vege¬ 
tation shall have attained a greater growth. 

A proposition is being considered to enlarge Elysian, 
\\ estlake, and Eastside Parks by the addition of some 
adjacent territory; also to construct a wide boulevard 
connecting Westlake and Elysian Parks. 

Manufactures in Los Angeles. 

Hitherto the development of the manufacturing in¬ 
dustry in Los Angeles has been retarded by the high price 
of fuel, coal costing about ten dollars a ton. The discov¬ 
ery of a large body of petroleum within the city limits, of 
which a description is given on another page, has wrought 
a great change, and many manufacturers in all parts of 
the country now have their eyes directed this way. 

Crude petroleum is fifty cents per barrel in the Los 
Angeles market, and, as three barrels of petroleum is 
equivalent to one ton of coal, it makes remarkably cheap 
fuel. 

New manufacturing enterprises are beginning to come 
in fast, as shrewd capitalists note the large profits offered 
in this field. Southern California has had a pastoral era, 
a speculative era, and a productive era. From now on 
much attention will be given to the working up of our nu¬ 
merous and valuable raw products. 

During the years past half a dozen important manu¬ 
facturing enterprises have been inaugurated in Los An- 


U8 CALIFORNIA OF TIIE SOUTH. 

geles alone, including a smelter (not yet completed), a 
pork-packing establishment, and a rolling milk 

Among the most important articles that are made here 
may be mentioned iron castings, iron and cement pipe, 
machinery, brick, canned and dried fruits, boxes, flour, 
crackers, soap, doors and sashes, mineral waters, beer, 
wine, brandy, furniture, candy, pickles, ice, and sugar. 

The present article will be mainly devoted to a 
glance at the openings for manufacturing enterprises in 
Southern California, which are so numerous and at¬ 
tractive. 

First should be mentioned the utilization of our fruit 
products by canning, drying, crystallizing, and making 
into jam. There are several factories of this description, 
but the industry is capable of almost indefinite extension. 
Especially for crystallized fruit is the demand greater than 
the supply, at high prices. The only crystallizing fruit 
factory on a large scale in the United States is located in 
Los Angeles, and produces a fine article. The by-prod¬ 
ucts of the orange, which form an important branch of 
the industry in Europe, have not been utilized at all here, 
although one small factory has recently been started in 
Los Angeles to make essential oils. 

Potato-starch factories should pay well in Southern 
California. Several olive-oil mills have been built, and 
others are contemplated. 

Sugar from beets has been made for two years at the 
large Chino factory in San Bernardino County, which 
last season utilized the product of over four thousand 
acres. A co-operative beet-sugar factory, of about equal 
size to that at Chino, is about to be built near Anaheim, 
in Orange County, and another near Long Beach, in 
Los Angeles County. With a climate permitting work 
to be carried on three times as long as in Europe, and 
many thousands of acres adapted to beet culture, there 
should be at least a dozen more beet-sugar factories in 


LOS ANGELES. 


I 19 

Southern California. The profits of such an enterprise 
are large. 

There are several creameries and cheese factories and 
room for more, large quantities of butter and cheese being 
still imported from the East. Nearly all the ham and 
bacon consumed in Southern California is also imported, 
but this will soon be changed, now that the pork-packing 
establishment in Los Angeles, with a capacity of one hun¬ 
dred and fifty thousand hogs a year, is completed. 

The castor bean grows all over the country and be¬ 
comes a tree within a year, yet we have only one small 
castor-oil mill, started a few years ago in Los Angeles. 
Linseed oil could also be profitably manufactured on a 
large scale. 

Though pickles are made here, we still import car 
loads from Europe, which should not be, as cucumbers, 
onions, beets, tomatoes, peppers, and other vegetables 
bear all the year round, and yield immense crops. With 
tomatoes delivered at the factory at eight dollars a ton, 
we should build up an export trade in tomato catsup, 
which is now made here only for home consumption. 

Right within the city limits of Los Angeles are hun¬ 
dreds of thousands of tons of fine glass sand, from which, 
at an experimental test, excellent glass has been made. 
Lifty thousand dollars would liberally equip such a fac¬ 
tory, yet we import all our glass from the East. 

Immense quantities of rawhides are shipped East, and 
reimported as shoes, saddles, and harness. There is only 
one small tannery in this section. We should prepare 
here calfskins and kipskins, also sole and harness leather. 
In shipping hides the stock could be culled and the “ run¬ 
ners,” or lean hides, worked up into “ lace leather.” What 
are known as “ ranch hides ”—those produced on farms 
where a few animals are kept—can be purchased at a 
nominal price. The expense for tallow and neat's-foot oil 
in the manufacture would be less than in the Last. 1 here 


120 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


is some tan-bark oak here, and larger quantities in Lower 
California. The extract can also be imported from the 
Pennsylvania and West Virginia forests, where it is pre¬ 
pared. A shrub, called canaigre, also grows, from which 
a good substitute for tan-bark is made. 

A harness and saddle factory and a shoe factory would 
soon follow such a tannery. At present both these arti¬ 
cles are made only on a limited scale. A small shoe fac¬ 
tory has been established at Alhambra, in Los Angeles 
County. The lower grades of shoes might be made here 
at first from kips and calfskins, shipping the better grades 
of hides. There is a large market for harness. The tan¬ 
ning of sheepskins would also be profitable. From hoofs 
and refuse hides glue could be made; also fertilizers, 
which are much needed. 

Tobacco might be grown and manufactured in many 
parts of Southern California, where it has already been 
tested, and a good quality of cigars made from the prod¬ 
uct. 

A little ordinary wrapping paper only is made here. 
There is a good opening for one or more paper mills, to 
make manilla and other papers. A vast quantity of paper 
cuttings are destroyed, also large quantities of rags, while 
hemp can be grown here profitably. Fine tissue paper 
for wrapping fruit should be made, and fine wrapping 
paper from flax. 

A ropewalk for the manufacture of cordage would pay. 

Working pants, shirts, jackets, and overalls should be 
made here on a large scale to supply the home market. 

There are a couple of small potteries, but most of our 
milk- and butter-crocks, jam jars, fruit jars, and flower¬ 
pots are still imported, in spite of the fact that we have de¬ 
posits of excellent clay here. 

There are extensive deposits of mineral paint in sev¬ 
eral places, which might be profitably worked up. 

From the residue of petroleum, which is produced 


LOS ANGELES. 


121 


abundantly here, might be manufactured a great variety 
of products, such as coal-tar colors, lubricating oils (made 
now on a small scale), waterproofing, ink (which is now 
manufactured in Ventura County), vaseline, benzine, 
naphtha, and washes for insect pests; also fuel gas, which 
is largely made from petroleum in the East. 

The Pacific Ocean abounds with fish. Salt and dried 
fish are put up at San Diego and San Pedro, and some 
mackerel were salted last year on Catalina Island, but the 
industry is capable of great extension. The canning of 
sardines, craw-fish, and turtles would be profitable. The 
latter are found by millions in the Gulf of California. 

A brass foundry on a considerable scale, to supply 
the home market with all kinds of plumbing, gas and 
steam fittings, is badly needed. There is one in Los An¬ 
geles, but the demand for the product exceeds the supply. 

There is a good opening for a nail factory, the con¬ 
sumption being very large and scrap-iron plentiful. 

There has long been a demand for mineral-reduction 
works, ores from this section being now sent as far as 
Pueblo and Kansas City for reduction. Work was com¬ 
menced in Los Angeles on a custom smelter, but it has 
not been completed. There is a large field to draw upon, 
extending over Lower California and Arizona, as well as 
Southern California. To these sections will soon be add¬ 
ed Southern Utah and Nevada, when the railroad to Salt 
Lake is completed. At present coke for smelting can be 
laid down to Los Angeles at a much lower rate than in 
the mining regions of the interior. 

One of our leading articles of export is wool, which 
should be worked at home. There is a fine opening here 
for several branches of woolen manufacture. 

Trade and Commerce of Los Angeles. 

There is an idea prevalent among a good many Eastern 
people, who have heard about Los Angeles that it is sim- 


122 


CALIFORNIA OF TIIE SOUTH 


ply a picturesque'and attractive city, with a charming cli¬ 
mate, which depends, and always will depend, mainly for 
support upon Eastern consumptives and orange-growing. 
This is a great mistake. The location of Los Angeles is 
such as to insure its commercial importance sooner or 
later, even were the climate far less perfect than it is and 
did we not grow a pound of fruit. 

Hitherto the chief industry of this section has been 
horticulture, since the days when hides, wool, and tallow 
were the leading products. Of late, however, the general 
manufacturing and commercial interests of Los Angeles 
have assumed much importance. Los Angeles now does 
an important jobbing and wholesale trade with the south¬ 
western section of the country from Lresno on the north 
to New Mexico. 

The condition of the banks of Los Angeles is very 
sound, as shown by the latest reports. The banks of the 
city carry deposits of nearly $12,000,000, and do a large 
and profitable business, which is constantly increasing. 

The condition of Los Angeles, as shown by the Clear¬ 
ing House returns during the past year, is an enviable 
one, and has excited attention throughout the country. 
There has been a steady and large increase in the weekly 
clearings over the previous year, and this within a time 
when most of the large cities of the country have shown 
a decrease. The clearings for the first six months of the 
present year amounted to $29,034,165, as compared with 
$23,687,498 for the first six months of 1894, showing an 
increase for the half year of $5,348,687. 

Post office receipts are accepted, and properly so, as 
a faithful exponent of the business conditions of a city, 
Such being the case, the inhabitants of Los Angeles have 
more than ordinary reason to congratulate themselves on 
the prosperous condition of their city. 

The receipts of the Los Angeles post office for the six 
months ending June 30th show an increase over the pre- 


LOS ANGELES. 


123 


ceding- six months that—in all probability, facts not being 
yet available—no other city in the United States can ap¬ 
proach. The figures are as follows: 

For the six months ended June 30, 1895, $87,166.42; 
for the preceding six months ended December 31, 1894, 
$79,294.40. Increase for last half year, $7,872.02. 

This is an increase of within a fraction of ten per cent 
for the six months, or at the rate of twenty per cent a 
year. 

The building record of Los Angeles for the past six 
months has been a remarkable one, and it is doubtful 
whether it could be duplicated in any city of the United 
States with five times the population of Los Angeles. As 
compared with San Francisco, the amount of building 
in July was nearly double as large in Los Angeles as in 
the largest city in the State, with a population four times 
as great. 

The following remarkable figures, showing the 
amount of building permits issued and their value for 
the twelve months of 1894 and seven months of 1895, 
speak for themselves: 


1894. 



Permits. 

Amount. 

Tnrmnrv . 

131 

$I33U35 

F pVirn n rv . . . 

121 

115,145 

M n rrh . 

158 

156,740 

April . - - , . 

133 

222,010 

]Vf fly . 

162 

185,210 

June ...t.. 

I 49 

123 

194,565 

Tulv . 

233,428 

J u v. 

Align‘A . 

156 

170 

225 

184 

117 

182,957 

^pntpmhpr . 

279,710 

Or*fT)V>pr . 

269,120 

TNI Avpmhpr. 

275,707 

Dpppmhpr. 

131,675 



T ntfll<t . . . -. 

1,829 

$2,379,702 


























124 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH 


1895. 



Permits. 

Amount. 

Tamm rv . 

164 

$190,700 

Kphniarv. . 

I70 

290,000 

Mn rrh . _ . 

201 

226,822 

April .. 

186 

300,368 

jy[^y , , ,,... 

2l6 

363 , 99 0 

Tunc » » .. 

163 

301,295 


245 

637,219 


Totals. 

i ,345 

$2,284,702 


Climate of Los Angeles. 

This subject will be but briefly mentioned, as the whole 
ground has been covered in extenso in another chapter. 
The following extracts from a paper read before the 
Kings County Medical Society, Brooklyn, New York, 
give a general idea of the climate of this city: * 

“ All writers on climatology agree that the first requirement 
of a climate for all classes of invalids is that it shall be equable 
in temperature. 

“ Now let us compare the temperature of Los Angeles, which 
is no better than the average Southern California climate, with 
that of Boston, which I believe is no worse than the average New 
England climate. 

“ From the Signal Service records at Los Angeles for a period 
of six years I learn that the average temperature of January, the 
coldest month, was 52 0 Fahr., while for August, the warmest 
month, the average temperature was 69.70°. 

“ The Signal Service records for 1881 of the office at Boston 
show that the average temperature of January, the coldest month, 
was 32.60°, while the average temperature of August was 69.90°, 


* Southern California : A Climatic Sketch, by Walter Bindley, M. D. 
New York Medical Journal, October 30, 1887. 


























LOS ANGELES. 


125 


thus showing a difference in average temperature of hottest and 
(coldest months in Los Angeles of less than 18 0 , while the differ¬ 
ence between the average temperature of the coldest and the aver¬ 
age temperature of the hottest month in Boston is 37.3 0 . Further, 
these same records show that the greatest daily range in tem¬ 
perature in Los Angeles was 29 0 , while the greatest daily range 
in Boston was 69°. 

“ With the month of May the dry season begins. This term 
dry season ’ applies only to the coast valleys. In the mountains 
there are now and then sharp thunder-storms, and it is at this 
time that the desert beyond the Sierras has its rainy season. 

“ I have often from Los Angeles, in the midst of her dry sea¬ 
son, witnessed black clouds and vivid lightning, telling me of 
summer storms east of the mountains. Sometimes even in Los 
Angeles there is a shower during the summer. 

“ There is seldom a year in which there are a half-dozen cloudy 
days between the middle of May and the middle of November. 

“ I will again refer you to the Signal Service reports of the 
Los Angeles station, in order that you may have a more positive 
basis of information than my casual observations: 


Month. 

1879. 

1880. 

1881. 

1882. 

1883. 

1884. 

Average. 

Tanuarv. 

3-59 

i -33 

i -43 

1.01 

1.62 

3 -i 5 

2 02 

February. 

0.97 

1.56 

0.36 

2.66 

2.87 

13.36 

3-58 

March. 

0.49 

i -45 

1.66 

2.96 

2.87 

12.36 

3-58 

April. 

1.19 

5.06 

0.46 

1.83 

0.15 

3-58 

2.04 

May. 

9- 2 4 

0.04 

O.OI 

0.63 

2.02 

0.39 

0-55 

fune. 

0.03 

0.00 

0.00 

0.00 

0.03 

i -39 

O.24 

1 My. 

0.00 

0.00 

0.00 

0.00 

0.00 

0.02 

T race. 

August. 

0.00 

0.00 

o.co 

0.00 

0.00 

0.02 

Trace. 

September . . . 

0.00 

0.00 

o.co 

0.00 

0.00 

0.00 

0.00 

October. 

0-93 

0.14 

0.82 

0.05 

1.42 

0-39 

0.62 

November.... 

3-44 

0.67 

0-37 

1.82 

0.00 

.... 

1.24 

December.... 

6-53 

8.40 

0.52 

0.08 

2.56 


3.61 

Totals. 

17.41 

18.65 

5-53 

10 74 

14.14 


13.29 


“ Now we will compare these figures with the rainfall in some 
other well-known place, as recorded in vol. xxiv, Smithsonian 
Institution Reports. 








































126 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


Average Rainfall in Riches. 


Place. 

Period of 
observa¬ 
tion. 

Spring. 

Summer. 

Autumn. 

Winter. 

Year. 

Los Angeles. 

5 years. 

3-73 

0.01 

1.91 

7-23 

12.S8 

San Francisco. 

20 “ 

4.80 

O.49 

2.68 

12.32 

20.29 

Asheville, N. C. 

ii “ 





40.20 

Cincinnati. 

41 “ 

II . 17 

12.67 

6.29 

9-83 

42.96 

New York city. 

29 “ 

n -43 

13.08 

11.20 

10.81 

46.52 

Jacksonville, Fla. .. . 

13 “ 

19.01 

21.27 

13-07 

8.66 

53-oi 


“ I hope you will notice the amount of rainfall in Los Angeles 
during winter. It was only yesterday that a prominent physician 
of New York city expressed great surprise when I told him that 
there were only from twelve to twenty rainy days in Los Angeles 
during the rainy season. He said he thought it rained there con¬ 
tinuously during that period. 

“ But your health resort may have a mild and equable tem¬ 
perature, a proper altitude, a pure atmosphere, and yet, if it has 
not variegated scenery and pleasant social surroundings, the 
health seeker will die of ennui. 

“ This is the point in which Los Angeles, as well as many 
other places in Southern California, is most happily endowed. A 
thriving city of eighty thousand inhabitants, with satisfactory 
hotels, boarding houses, and restaurants; excellent schools, rang¬ 
ing from the kindergarten and public school to colleges, a State 
normal school, and a well-equipped university; a commercial me¬ 
tropolis with the ocean at its door, and the center from which 
radiate many lines of railroad; with electric and cable roads that 
noiselessly carry people from the busy streets over the hills to 
the suburbs; lighted three hundred and forty days in the year by 
the sun and three hundred and sixty-five nights in the year by 
electricity; elegant churches, in which worship Roundheads and 
Cavaliers, the Salvation Army and Unitarians; three theaters fully 
equal to any in the city of Brooklyn, in which are to be seen dur¬ 
ing the year all the leading theatrical attractions of America; the 
home of the rose, where the humblest cottage is surrounded by 
a perpetual flower garden; where heliotropes and fuchsias clam¬ 
ber to the tops of the houses and there bloom in all their beauty 




























LOS ANGELES. 


12 7 


the year round; and where the bright and cheerful geranium, 
which you care for so tenderly in your conservatories, is fre¬ 
quently used for hedges and reaches a height of several feet. 

“ Add to this the fact that Los Angeles is located in a county 
which produces annually many millions of bushels of barley, 
wheat, and corn; a county in which there are now growing 2,000,- 
000 orange trees, many thousands of olive, apple, apricot, nectar¬ 
ine, fig, and pomegranate trees—and you will realize that there 
is variety enough to entertain the most fastidious. 

“ Beyond all these points of interest are the two that God put 
there before man planted the fig tree or the vine—the mountains 
and the ocean. Fourteen miles east of Los Angeles are the Sierra 
Madre Mountains, and fourteen miles west of Los Angeles is the 
Pacific Ocean. 

“ The point that should be emphasized is that the climate of 
Los Angeles and all the Southern California cities located within 
reach of the daily ocean breeze is delightful both in summer and 
in winter. Eastern people have an idea that, because it is a warm 
winter climate, it must be a hot summer climate. 

“ A gentleman just arrived in Los Angeles, August 20, 1887, 
from Lake Minnetonka, says: ‘ I suffered with heat every day I 
was at the lake, but here in Los Angeles it is delightful. The ther¬ 
mometer may indicate a temperature as high as at Lake Minne¬ 
tonka, but the daily breeze from the ocean keeps the heat from 
being oppressive, while at Minnetonka a person swelters in the 
shade.’ 

“ The physicians of Los Angeles are agreed that for the aver¬ 
age case of incipient phthisis such places as Newhall, San Fernan¬ 
do, La Canada, Monte Vista, Pasadena, Sierra Madre, Alhambra, 
Whittier, San Gabriel, Monrovia, Arcadia, and Glendora, all with¬ 
in a radius of thirty miles from Los Angeles, are superior, as they 
have altitudes of one thousand feet and upward, and have not the 
humidity of places nearer the coast. 

“ In conclusion, Los Angeles is a delightful, prosperous city. 
It has all the commercial activity and phenomenal growth of 
Kansas City or Minneapolis, a winter climate superior to that of 
Mentone or Nice, and a summer climate far pleasanter than that 
of Lake Minnetonka or Bar Harbor. 

“ Such a climatic and metropolitan combination exists no¬ 
where else on earth.” 


128 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


Los Angeles County, Soledad Township. 

Los Angeles County is situated in the southwestern 
part of California. The center of this county is about one 
hundred miles from the southern boundary of the State, 
and about eight hundred from the northern boundary. 
It extends in a sweeping curve for about one hundred 
miles along the Pacific Ocean. 

The county contains about four thousand square 
miles. Its assessed valuation for 1895 is $82,344,330. It 
is bounded on the south by the Pacific Ocean and Orange 
County; on the north by Kern and Ventura Counties; 
on the east by San Bernardino County; and on the west 
by Ventura County and the Pacific Ocean. A more ir¬ 
regularly-shaped territory could scarcely be plotted. 
Its greatest length is one hundred and twenty miles, and 
its greatest breadth seventy-two miles. It is divided into 
two almost equal parts by the thirty-fourth parallel. 

The Coast Range of mountains extends through the 
county from the northwest to the southeast corner. The 
traveler will rarely hear the term “ Coast Range,’’how¬ 
ever, as these mountains have local names by which resi¬ 
dents always designate them. There are the following 
names given to different portions of this range in Los An¬ 
geles County: Santa Monica Mountains,Verdugo Moun¬ 
tains, Cahuenga Mountains, Tujunga Mountains, San 
Fernando Mountains, Sierra Madre Mountains, San Ber¬ 
nardino Mountains, San Gabriel Mountains, San Jose 
Mountains, Cucamonga Mountains, and Santa Ana 
Mountains. The highest mountain in this county is 
Mount Wilson, about six thousand feet high. 

The various fruits grown in Los Angeles County may 
be found in the markets during the following portions of 
the year: 


Oranges 

Lemons. 


All the year. 
All the year. 




SOLED AD TOWNSHIP . 


129 


Limes. 

Figs. 

Almonds. 

Apples. 

Pears. 

Grapes. 

Raisins. 

Peaches. 

Apricots. 

Plums and prunes . . . 

Cherries. 

Japanese persimmons 

Guavas. 

Loquats. 

Strawberries. 

Raspberries. 

Blackberries. 

Currants.. 

Gooseberries. 

Watermelons. 

Muskmelons. 

Mulberries. 

Nectarines. 

Olives. 

Pomegranates. 

Quinces. 


.All the year. 

.July to Christmas. 

.October. 

.July to November. 

.July to November. 

. .July 15th to December. 

.October 20th (new). 

. .June 15th to Christmas. 
.June 15th to September. 

.. .June 1st to November. 

.June. 

.November. 

.Nearly all the year. 

. .May 15th to June 15th. 
Nearly all the year round. 
... .June 15th to January. 

, .June 15th to September. 

.. .May 15th to June 15th. 

.June. 

.July to October. 

.July to October. 

.July to December. 

.August. 

... .December to January. 
. .September to December. 
. .. .October to December. 


In the most northerly part of the county—that is, 
north of the San Fernando Mountains—is a large body of 
land known as Soledad Township. This township in¬ 
cludes 1,200,000 acres, or one third of the whole county. 
Because of its position it has a climate quite different from 
the portion of the county lying south of them. 

The average altitude is 2,500 feet. Newhall, thirty 
miles from Los Angeles, the principal town, the lowest 
point, has an elevation of 1,265 feet. The winters are 
cooler than in the southern part of the county, and the 
summers are somewhat warmer. While this region is 
not so generally known as the southern part, yet it is very 
10 




























130 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


healthful, and should be particularly sought by persons 
suffering from lung diseases. The atmosphere is so dry 
that vast quantities of fruit are brought here by rail to 
sun-dry. At Newhall fruit-drying is extensively car¬ 
ried on during the summer. This feature of the atmos¬ 
phere has led raisin-grape growers to look toward Sole- 
dad Township with hopeful eyes. Grapes are success¬ 
fully raised throughout this section, and there is little 
doubt but that it will ultimately become a raisin-grape 
producing county. Ten acres of raisin grapes will yield 
a larger profit per year than sixty acres of wheat. With 
this as a basis, it is easy to calculate the population that 
Soledad Township may in time contain. 

In the vicinity of Newhall, and particularly at Raven¬ 
na, a few miles from Newhall, asthmatics almost invari¬ 
ably derive great benefit. In fact, the residents in this 
sparsely-settled territory are many of them asthmatics, 
living there because it is the only place they can live and 
be free from their tormentor. 

There are fair hotel accommodations at Newhall, and 
comfortable quarters for a limited number at Ravenna. 
In the western part of this township is Elizabeth Lake, a 
body of water covering about six hundred acres. There 
are also in this vicinity five smaller lakes, their elevation 
being about 3,700 feet. They are surrounded by a fertile, 
interesting country. 

The northeastern part of this township comprises 
what is known as the Mojave Desert. The soil of this 
desert is highly nutritious, and it is a desert only because 
of the lack of moisture. Water is now being conveyed 
upon this land, and in a few years it will be a desert no 
longer. 

Antelope Valley is a large tract of land in this town¬ 
ship, traversed by the Southern Pacific Railroad. This 
valley is being rapidly occupied bv settlers. Artesian wells 
have been sunk, and deciduous fruit, berries, and all the 


NE WHALL. 


131 

cereals are profitably grown. To the farmer who is poor 
in pocket but rich in energy this section presents many 
opportunities. 

Settlement has been rapid during the past few years, 
and many fruit trees are being planted, almonds, cher¬ 
ries, and raisin grapes doing especially well. There is a 
wide artesian belt, and irrigation is being introduced. 
Some snow occasionally falls in winter, but does no dam¬ 
age to fruit trees. Lancaster is the chief settlement and 
is a thrifty little town. 

The vicinity of Elizabeth Lake abounds in ducks, deer, 
rabbits, and quail, while on the so-called desert lands an¬ 
telope are numerous, and the mountains are the haunts 
of the grizzly bear and mountain lion. 

The Santa Clara River, the principal stream of 
Ventura County, rises in this township in Soledad 
Canon. 

The most important railway stations are Newhall,Sau¬ 
gus, Lang, South Side, Acton, Alpine, Lancaster, and 
Rosamond. There are very productive petroleum wells 
in the neighborhood of Newhall. Placer gold mining is 
quite profitable in parts of this township, and there are 
also undeveloped mines of silver, copper, coal, iron, and 
graphite. Marble and granite are abundant. 

This vast township is a terra incognita to the average 
citizen of Los Angeles County, and especially so to the 
ordinary tourist and health seeker, yet see what a list of 
interesting features it presents! To the student of Nature 
who loves mountains, forests, lakes, and plains; who de¬ 
lights in geology, botany, or zoology; who desires fos¬ 
sils, shells, rare flowers, and ferns; to the sportsman, the 
miner, the farmer, or to the fruit grower, there are in this 
hitherto almost unnoticed territory points of great inter¬ 
est and value. More especially is this section to be com¬ 
mended to the health seeker. Here, at an altitude of 
2,500 feet, many invalids who suffer from pulmonary trou- 


i3 2 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


bles, and fail to find relief nearer the ocean, are greatly 
benefited. 

There are also in this township a number of mineral 
springs, the most noted being the iron sulphur springs at 
Lang Station, forty-three miles from Los Angeles, and at 
an elevation of 1,681 feet. These springs have quite a 
local reputation for curing rheumatism. 

San Fernando Township. 

San Fernando Township is just south of Soledad, from 
which it is separated by the San Fernando Mountains. 
The Southern Pacific Railroad, in going from the town 
of San Fernando in this township to the town of Newhall 
in Soledad Township, passes through a tunnel one and 
one third mile long, with two exceptions the longest on 
the Western Continent. This township was formerly a 
ranch of nearly 125,000 acres, and belonged to General 
Andres Pico, who made the treaty with General Fremont 
at Cahuenga in 1847. General Pico sold the ranch in 1846 
to Eulogio F. de Celis for $14,000, and in 1853 h e repur¬ 
chased one half of it for $15,000. 

This ranch has ever since been one immense wheat 
field, and although subdivided and belonging in tracts of 
a few thousand acres, to a number of owners, yet it has 
still remained almost exclusively a wheat-producing ter¬ 
ritory, a twenty-thousand-acre wheat field being no rare 
sight. 

These tracts are now being subdivided into farms of 
from five acres to one hundred and sixty acres, and, as a 
consequence, the products are becoming much more di¬ 
versified. The subdivision of the large ranchos into small 
farms has hitherto insured a thorough and economical 
cultivation of the land, and this, more than any one other 
cause, has operated to make Southern California the 
most prosperous and progressive section of the United 
States. 


SA N FERN A ND O. 


*33 


Near San Fernando is one of the finest orchards of 
citrus and deciduous fruits in the State, covering over four 
hundred acres. 

In about the center of this township is the Mission of 
San Fernando Rey, founded in 1797 at the joint expense 
of Charles IV of Spain and the Marquis of Branceforte, 
Viceroy of Mexico, in honor of Ferdinand V, King of 
Castile and Aragon. 

The old church is now a complete but an interesting 
ruin. Formerly the mission buildings aggregated over 
a mile and a half in length. Many of them have been 
leveled, but some are yet in an excellent state of preserva¬ 
tion. 

Mrs. Helen Hunt Jackson, speaking of this town, 
said: “ San Fernando is one of the places I desire to see 
twice.” There are around this mission some fine old olive 
trees, of which a correspondent of the New York Times 
wrote as follows: 

“ Some twenty years ago I visited the San Fernando Mission, 
twenty-four miles from Los Angeles, in company with Generals 
Jefferson C. Davis and Stoneman, and we sat long, one delicious 
evening in December, under the olive trees at that place, smoking 
cigarettes rolled by Stoneman, chatting about the war, and get¬ 
ting slightly boozed upon aguardiente furnished by General An¬ 
dres Pico, who commanded the Mexican forces which had de¬ 
feated the Americans some twenty years before, only a few miles 
from where we were sitting and inhaling the perfumed air. I 
visited the same old trees in January last, which still stand up 
against the storms of one hundred years, for all around the an¬ 
cient inclosure, built by the Franciscan Fathers a century ago, 
stand the olive trees which they planted with reverent hands 
before the Constitution of the United States was adopted. Like 
that Constitution they have borne fruit for the good of mankind. 
These old trees of the San Fernando Mission, owing to a legal 
contest of title about the land on which they stood, were neglected 
for about ten years and left unpruned, while the land was left un¬ 
tilled. Still the grand old trees maintained their living with but 


134 


' CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH . 


limited fruitings. About three years ago, after the title had been 
settled, P. Casanave took charge of the grounds and plowed 
them thoroughly. He then pruned the trees judiciously and 
awaited results. These have been most gratifying and surprising. 
Without delay these centenarians commenced sending out hun¬ 
dreds of thousands of new branches and loaded both young and 
old with precious fruit, while all around the heavy crop of barley 
thrives, and the trees, though they have received no irrigation, 
each year produce a glorious crop of handsome olives that make 
rich returns from thrifty labor. On the bending branches of these 
ancient trees the fruit, under the sunny sky of San Fernando, will 
soon be maturing again, and furnish ten thousand gallons of 
olives for oil or pickles, as may be desired by the owner. Mr. 
Casanave is now building on the new Fernando colony grounds 
the largest olive-oil factory in the State, so that he can use up all 
the olives grown in Los Angeles County.” 

The town of San Fernando is located on the Southern 
Pacific Railroad, twenty-one miles from Los Angeles; it 
has an elevation of one thousand and sixty-one feet. The 
climate is delightful and the situation beautiful. Between 
this town and the mountains, one mile away, is a grand, 
rolling plain, that is now being occupied by cozy homes. 
Hon. Charles McClay laid out the present town of San 
Fernando in 1874. In April of that year a free excursion 
train was run from Los Angeles to attend the first auction 
sale of town lots. The lots were twenty-five by one hun¬ 
dred feet, and sold at prices ranging from six to twenty 
dollars. 

There are a neat, substantial Methodist Episcopal 
church, a commodious, attractive public-school building, 
and a large three-story brick hotel. 

Artesian wells and mountain streams water this sec¬ 
tion. Wheat and barley never need artificial watering, 
but deciduous and citrus fruits demand some irrigation. 
San Fernando is forty minutes by rail from Los Angeles, 
and there are several trains each way daily. 

From Burbank, in Los Angeles Township, a short 



Monte Vista, twenty miles northwest of Los Angeles (altitude, 1,500 feet). 



















































































































































































i3 6 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


branch of the Southern Pacific runs to Chatsworth Park, 
a new settlement pleasantly located among the live oaks. 

One of the most prosperous and picturesque mountain 
resorts in Southern California is Monte Vista, situated 
in a beautiful, fertile valley between the Verdugo and Si¬ 
erra Madre Mountains. Monte Vista is twenty miles 
north of Los Angeles, and four miles east of Monte Vista 
Station, on the Southern Pacific Railroad. 

The water supply is pure and abundant. There is 
quite a body of excellent fruit land in this vicinity, and it 
is one of the places where the search for health can be hap¬ 
pily combined with pleasant out-door employment. 


La Ballona Township, Santa Monica. 

South of San Fernando Township is La Ballona 
Township, which contains an area of 114,608 acres, and 
has forty miles of seacoast. There are many rich grain 
and fruit farms throughout this township. Some por¬ 
tions are mountainous, but even high on the mountain 
sides are vineyards and gardens. These mountain or 
rather foothill vegetable farms were first occupied by very 
poor people, who were unable to own land in the valley, 
but, finding that tomatoes could be raised all the year 
round, their condition of poverty was exchanged for one 
of comparative wealth. 

A grand, romantic place on the northeast boundary 
of the township is Cahuenga Pass. This pass is eight 
miles from Los Angeles, and is the spot where, in 1847, 
the Fremont-Pico treaty was made. Every tourist should 
take a carriage drive to this point. 

All along the mountains, near this pass, are canons 
in which are the fruit and vegetable farms referred to. 
Here also are large fields of watermelons and muskmel- 
ons, and during six months in the year large farm-wagons 
loaded with melons can be seen wending their way to the 



Hotel Arcadia, Santa Monica, 


















138 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


Los Angeles markets, whence the melons are shipped by 
rail in all directions. 

This township aligns the city of Los Angeles on the 
west, and is traversed by two railroads—one, the Southern 
Pacific, from Los Angeles to Santa Monica and the great 
iron wharf; the other, the California Southern, from Los 
Angeles to Santa Monica and Redondo. 

The seacoast is of continuous interest to all. Year 
in and year out the swelling tide rolls in on the long, 
smooth beach, and each time, as it recedes, leaves behind 
many treasures of the great deep. Often, as parties of 
visitors start along the sand dunes, shell and moss gather¬ 
ing, one delightful surprise after another leads them on, 
until they are astonished to find themselves miles from 
their starting point. Santa Monica, Santa Monica Canon, 
and Ballona are among the most famous resorts on this 
coast. 

Santa Monica is the most popular seaside resort. 
It is situated on a high bluff on Santa Monica Bay, dis¬ 
tant about sixteen miles from Los Angeles. 

The comparative mean temperature is as follows: * 

Santa Monica, Cal., January, 54 0 ; July, 70° ; Diff., 16 0 

Jacksonville, Fla., January, 55 0 ; July, 82°; “ 27 0 

Nice, France, January, 41 0 ; July, 73 0 ; “ 33 0 

The population of Santa Monica is about eighteen 
hundred, exclusive of the thousands of visitors who re¬ 
sort thither everv summer. Trains from Los Aneeles 
arrive and depart about every hour of the day. There 
are excellent hotels, numerous boarding houses, and a 
great many cottages that can be rented for the season. 
Surf-bathing is the popular entertainment. There are 
several churches and a public school with a number of 
teachers. During the summer balls are given once or 


* Climatic, by E. C. Folsom, M. D. Southern California Practition¬ 
er, vol. ii, p. 268. 




SANTA MONICA 


l 39 



Eucalyptus Avenue, Inglewood, Los Angeles County. 


twice a week. The streets are well graded, there are miles 
of cement sidewalks, good business blocks, and a street 
railway. On the beach is a fine pavilion and plunge-bath. 

Old Santa Monica Canon is a charming spot, about 
two miles from Santa Monica, and is well worth a day’s 
picnicking. Around a luncheon spread under the protect¬ 
ing shadow of an immense sycamore, beside the clear 




































140 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


waters of a mountain stream rushing heedlessly on to its 
own ingulfment, with great fern and moss-covered cliffs 
on each side, a merry pleasure party, whose notes of song 
and laughter are in harmony with the music of the surf, 
may be found in this canon almost every day in the year. 

Here the Southern Pacific Railway Company has con¬ 
structed a mammoth wharf nearly a mile long, where a 
large shipping business is done. 

Three miles northeast of Santa Monica is the National 
Soldiers’ Home, with extensive grounds and buildings 
that give it the appearance of a village. It is an interest¬ 
ing place to visit, containing seventeen hundred veterans. 

Inglewood is delightfully situated on the Los An¬ 
geles and Ballona branch of the California Central Rail¬ 
road. It is eight miles from Los Angeles and six from the 
ocean. The soil in this vicinity is a deep garden loam, 
and all kinds of fruit usually cultivated in Southern Cali¬ 
fornia thrive here. An idea of the climate may be gained 
from the fact that for the past three years there has been 
no frost that has damaged growing fruit and vines. Lands 
around Inglewood are successfully irrigated from the Los 
Angeles outfall sewer, thus carrying out the theory ad¬ 
vanced by Victor Hugo in Les Miserables that the sew¬ 
age of cities should be utilized on the farms and gardens. 

Between Los Angeles and Santa Monica, on the 
Southern Pacific line, is a beautiful and flourishing little 
settlement known as The Palms. 

Los Angeles Township. 

South of Soledad, and east of San Fernando Town¬ 
ship, is Los Angeles Township, which has an aggregate 
area of about ninety thousand acres. It is a very rich 
and productive township, and has many wealthy fruit 
growers in its population. Los Angeles city occupies 
the southern part. 

The Southern Pacific Railroad from Los Angeles to 


WILMINGTON TO WNSHIP. 


141 

San Francisco crosses the southwestern corner of this 
township. There are several stations on the road; but 
Burbank , a prosperous place fifteen miles from Los An¬ 
geles, is the principal village. 

The Los Angeles River, a turbulent stream in the 
winter, but a beautiful creek in the summer, leaving its 
canon in the San Fernando Mountains, flows through 
this township. 

Glendale , a pretty little town, with churches, school- 
houses, and other evidences of an intellectual popula¬ 
tion, is about eight miles north of the city of Los Angeles, 
with which it is connected by the “ Terminal ” railway. 
In this village is one of the largest peach orchards in the 
State, besides numerous orange groves and vineyards. 
The visitor to Southern California should see Glendale. 

Verdugo Canon is an interesting mountain drive, 
about six miles from Los Angeles. A day spent leisure¬ 
ly here, gathering ferns and wild flowers, or hunting rab¬ 
bits and quail, can be made very enjoyable. 

Ten miles north of the city of Los Angeles is La Cana¬ 
da, a great body of mountain land, that is extremely fer¬ 
tile, and has been divided into small fruit farms. La 
Canada has an elevation of about two thousand feet, and 
is a very desirable location for consumptives. 

The true plan for the person who has incipient con¬ 
sumption is to secure a small tract of land, build a neat 
little cottage, and make a home for himself where he can 
stay contentedly until he has regained his health. 

The Tujunga Creek has its source in the northern 
part of this township, and flows into the Los Angeles 
River. 

Wilmington Township, San Pedro. 

South of San Antonio is Wilmington Township, a 
great part of which is a peninsula. There are artesian 
wells scattered all over Los Angeles County, from Sole- 


142 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH . 


dad Township to the southern boundary; but the north¬ 
ern part of this township, in the vicinity of Compton, is 
most noted for these perpetual fountains. 

As a consequence, this land is remarkably well wa¬ 
tered. In early days the dairymen were careless about 
caring for the surplus water, and the result was, stagnant 
water and malaria. A philanthropic gentleman, with the 
true Christian spirit, visited Compton, and, on seeing the 
stagnant water, said to the only physician in the village, 
“ Doctor, why don't you get the farmers together here, 
organize a public health association, and drain this water 
off the land? ” The medical man happened to be an 
Irishman who enjoyed startling people, and his answer 

was: “ Do you think I am a d-d fool? What use 

would the people have for my quinine and blue mass 
then? ” 

Compton was laid out in 1869, and named for G. D. 
Compton, then the only resident. It is a prosperous town, 
with churches, schoolhouses, stores, about all the secret 
societies, and the other institutions of a California village. 
It is ten miles south of Los Angeles, on the Wilmington 
branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The distinctive 
industry is butter- and cheese-making. Corn and barley 
are profitable crops, but the most profitable crop to raise 
for stock is alfalfa. This is a variety of clover that is raised 
in every county in Southern California. 

Deciduous fruits and berries are also raised success¬ 
fully here, but citrus fruits are not profitable. A visit 
to this section will interest all who enjoy seeing fine hogs, 
cattle, artesian wells, creameries, and cheese factories. 

On the coast is the town of Wilmington , twenty-two 
miles from Los Angeles, with which it is connected by the 
Southern Pacific Railroad. This town was founded by 
the late General Phineas Banning in 1858, whose name 
is intimately associated with the development of Los An¬ 
geles County. 



SAN PEDRO—REDONDO. 


M3 


Like Compton, it has its schools, churches, etc. Three 
miles beyond Wilmington is San Pedro, the location of 
wharves, custom officials, and the point where vessels with 
freight and passengers for Los Angeles unload. A full 
description of San Pedro Harbor will be given in the 
chapter on Harbors. While it is not the most popular 
seaside resort, yet many families go there from Los An¬ 
geles every summer, and all who spend a few weeks there 
are delighted. There are as yet no satisfactory hotel ac¬ 
commodations, and the only pleasant way to do is to rent 
a cottage. 

Concerning the boating and fishing, General D. B. 
Henderson, member of Congress from Dubuque, Iowa, 
says, “ San Pedro beats the world as a fishing place/’ 
Boats can always be rented at reasonable figures. 

San Pedro is the terminus of the Wilmington branch 
of the Southern Pacific Railroad. It also contains one 
of the largest lumber yards in the world. 

Opposite San Pedro is Terminal Island, a peninsula 
where the Terminal Railway Company has erected large 
wharves. A pavilion and bath house have also been built. 
There is fine fishing, boating, and bathing. 

One mile farther out on the peninsula is Point Firmin, 
on which is situated the lighthouse. Courteous keepers 
are always in charge, and an hour can be pleasantly spent 
here. 

Redondo is a new place, created during the past few 
years by the energy of two private citizens, who built a 
magnificent tourist hotel, a wharf, railroad to Los Ange¬ 
les, bath house, pavilion, etc. Redondo now does a large 
shipping business, steamers of the coast line calling regu¬ 
larly, and much lumber being imported by sailing vessels. 
The steamship company handled over fifty million pounds 
of freight last year. In addition to a large regular popula¬ 
tion, the town is crowded with visitors on Sundays and 
holidays, and many families rent cottages for the summer. 


144 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH . 


There is a fine pebble beach and good fishing. Redondo 
is reached by the Santa Fe line, as well as by the Redondo 
narrow-guage railway. 

San Antonio Township. 

East of La Ballona and the southern part of Los An¬ 
geles Township is San Antonio Township. It is a rich 
body of land. With an area of about thirty-five thousand 
acres, much of the township is given to the cultivation of 
wheat, barley, and beets, but there are also many fruit 
farms. In the eastern part of this township is a single 
barley field containing eleven thousand acres. It is the 
Laguna Ranch, and is owned by the estate of Colonel R. 
S. Baker. 

Florence is the only village in this township. It is 
six miles from Los Angeles, with which it is connected by 
the Southern Pacific Railroad. 

Los Nietos Township, Long Beach, and Santa Fe Springs. 

This immense township of nearly a hundred thousand 
acres lies just east of San Antonio and Wilmington Town¬ 
ship. It is naturally the best-watered portion of Los An¬ 
geles County. Old San Gabriel River, New San Gabriel 
River, and Coyote Creek pass through its entire length 
of twenty-seven miles. Within its borders are numerous 
large ranches, small farms, and the following towns: 
Long Beach, Whittier, Downey, Artesia, Lulton Wells, 
and Norwalk. 

Long Beach is a delightful seaside resort twenty- 
three miles from Los Angeles on the Wilmington branch 
of the Southern Pacific Railroad. It is also reached by 
the Terminal Railway. There are several trains daily. 
Long Beach contains a large Methodist Episcopal church, 
a Congregational church, good public schools, stores and 
livery stables, and only one saloon. The Chautauqua As¬ 
sembly has its annual meeting here every summer. 


LONG BEACH. 


H5 

The term Long Beach is not a misnomer, for here is 
a beach of hard white sand, as level as a floor extending 
many miles each way. This beach is a perfect natural 



Hotel, Long Beach. 

(Recently burned, but there are other comfortable hostelries ) 


race course, and during the season spanking teams from 
the city can always be seen dashing over this superb drive¬ 
way. There is a long pleasure wharf. 












146 


CALIFORNIA OF FILE SOUTH. 


Whittier , which was a wild mustard patch five years 
ago, has grown rapidly. Its location is pleasant and sight¬ 
ly, at the edge of the Los Nietos valley, on the slope of 
the San Jose hills, looking toward the ocean. Since the 
introduction of an ample water supply for irrigation it 
has made rapid strides. Many lemon groves are being 
planted, that delicate tree doing well here, where fogs 
and frost are almost unknown. There are over one hun¬ 
dred acres of orange nurseries. There is a large cannery, 
which is now employing four hundred and fifty persons 
and shipping two car loads of fruit daily, a fruit-drying 
establishment, a sorghum factory, and a broom factory. 
The Whittier State school, of five brick and stone build¬ 
ings, containing about five hundred boys and girls, is 
located at Whittier. This school was founded with the 
idea of taking unfortunate boys and girls with criminal 
environments or tendencies and giving them favorable 
surroundings, a common-school education, and teaching 
each one a trade. There are trade schools in carpentry, 
blacksmithing, printing, house and sign painting, shoe- 
making, cooking, baking, and tailoring. It is the en¬ 
deavor to find what each boy or girl is most inclined to 
and then teach him to be thorough in that avocation. 
Many of the pupils are also taught vegetable and flower 
gardening, fruit growing, and general farming. Military 
training is also a feature of the boys’ department. The 
institution was named for the Quaker poet, who up to 
the day of his death took a deep interest in the boys and 
girls m the school so far away from his New England 
home. 

Santa Fc' Springs is a neat village, with a Methodist 
Episcopal church, schoolhouse, etc. This place has be¬ 
come famous on account of its iron sulphur wells. There 
are a half-dozen wells here that contain water rich in me¬ 
dicinal virtues. They are especially noted for curing rheu ¬ 
matism, dyspepsia, constipation, and kidney and skin dis- 


A r OR IVA LA—DO WNE Y. 


147 


eases. There is no question about the efficacy of these 
springs, for many remarkable cures bear evidence of their 
worth. 

This town is twelve miles from Los Angeles, and con¬ 
nected with Los Angeles by the San Diego branch of the 
California Southern Railroad. 

Two miles south of Santa Fe Springs is— 

Norwalk , an attractive village with the usual quota 
of churches and schoolhouses. It is seventeen miles from 
Los Angeles, on the Santa Ana branch of the Southern 
Pacific Railroad. There are numerous artesian wells, al¬ 
falfa fields and cornfields, and a large and prosperous 
ostrich farm. Thoroughbred stock is profitably and ex¬ 
tensively raised. Four miles nearer Los Angeles, on the 
same line of railroad, is— 

Downey, the center of a rich farming and dairy coun¬ 
try. One source of great profit in this vicinity is the crop 
of English walnuts. This crop is said to be more profit¬ 
able than any fruit or grain. These walnuts sell by the ton 
at about eight and a half cents per pound, and may be 
successfully raised in several sections of Southern Cali¬ 
fornia; but the people of Los Nietos Township, espe¬ 
cially in the vicinity of Downev, Whittier, and Rivera, the 
headquarters of the industry, have paid the most attention 
to them. One resident sold his seventeen-acre crop of wal¬ 
nuts for twenty-seven hundred dollars, being one hundred 
and sixty dollars per acre. Rivera shipped one hundred 
and thirty car loads of walnuts last year. Downey is set¬ 
tled principally by people from the Southern States, and 
its citizens are generally noted for contentment and hos¬ 
pitality. This vicinity is rich in water, and is just the place 
for the farmer. Here, corn is raised in great quantities. 
A castor-oil mill in the town indicates that castor beans 
are a profitable crop. 

Downey is not a health resort, but it is by no means 
sickly. The Christians, Baptists, and Methodists have 


148 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


churches here; there are several secret societies, and ex¬ 
cellent public schools. 

San Gabriel Township. 

This township lies just east of Los Angeles and south 
of Soledad Township. It has the best reputation of any 
part of Los Angeles County for citrus fruits and vine¬ 
yards. 

Its elevation varies from eight to twenty-five hundred 
feet, and from one side to the other it is noted as a resort 
for consumptives. It contains the city of Pasadena, and 
the villages of Alhambra, South Pasadena, Lamanda 
Park, San Gabriel, New San Gabriel, and Sierra Madre 
—a galaxy of surpassing beauty, with the Sierra Madre 
Mountains forming a majestic background. 

Pasadena —an Indian word meaning “ Crown of the 
Valley ”—is now a city with a population of ten thousand. 
In 1873 it was a sheep pasture, and was purchased by a 
party of Indiana capitalists for six dollars per acre. For 
a number of years it was called Indiana Colony. The late 
D. M. Berry was the manager of this' enterprise, and at 
that time, after a conversation with this sanguine man, 
people would smile at his ideas of the future of this place. 

It did seem too bad to see a man of Mr. Berry’s ability 
wasting his time on such a forlorn hope. He would show 
that the soil was peculiarly adapted to fruit-growing; that 
there was an abundance of good water; that it was just 
the location for a great health resort; that the climate 
was delightful, both in summer and in winter; that the 
mountain scenery was magnificent; and that the indige¬ 
nous flowers and ferns were constant sources of pleasure. 
From these premises he would claim that this beautiful 
place would soon teem with a great population, but his 
hearers would shake their heads incredulously and im¬ 
prove on Shakespeare by saying, “ Alas, poor Berry! a 
fellow of infinite jest and most excellent fancy.” 


PASSADENA. 


I49 


To-day we find Mr. Berry’s sheep pasture a city of 
elegant homes; with ten thousand inhabitants; with nu¬ 
merous street-car lines; many very large and imposing 
school buildings; a well-selected public library in a build¬ 
ing that cost fifty thousand dollars; several banks; with 
planing mills, fruit canneries, and fruit-crystallizing works 
that give employment to hundreds of people; numerous 
secret societies; a very strong and wealthy Young Men's 
Christian Association ; Presbyterian, Congregational, 
Baptist, Methodist, Episcopal, and Universalist churches. 
The Throop Polytechnic Institute, located in Pasadena, 
is the most successful educational institution in South¬ 
ern California. 

Pasadena is eight miles from Los Angeles on the 
Southern Pacific, California Southern and Terminal Rail¬ 
ways. The electric railway also connects Los Angeles 
and Pasadena, cars leaving Lourth and Spring Streets, 
Los Angeles, every few minutes. No person can afford 
to miss visiting Pasadena. The following extract from 
the Southern California Practitioner, September, 1887, 
is from the pen of W. M. Chamberlain, M. D., a well- 
known physician of New York city. Dr. Chamberlain, 
at the time of writing, had already spent several winters 
in Pasadena: 

“ The chain of mountains, extending from southeast to north¬ 
west—from Bear Valley to San Fernando Tunnel—is known by 
the general name of the Sierra Madre. It is the link which con¬ 
nects the Coast Range with the greater range of the Sierra Ne¬ 
vada. It is about seventy miles long. Its peaks—San Antonio 
(Old Baldy), Cucamonga, San Fernando—are from seven to ten 
thousand feet high, and the intervening crest-line from four to six 
thousand feet. It is mainly of granitic rock, often much calcined 
and usually metamorphic. It is not a simple and single line, but 
a mass of mountains, having the same general strike or trend. 
It presents at Pasadena its almost precipitous wall, scantily cov¬ 
ered with sage-brush and shrubs. Almost all the day the blazing 
sunlight rests upon its innumerable ridges, often bare, and the 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


150 

green ravines which divide them. Winding through and down 
its many canons come the streams which feed the life and beauty 
of the plains below. It rises like a barrier between the arid desert 
to the eastward and the seaward slope of Los Angeles County. It 
shuts off the desert winds which, sometimes cold and sometimes 
fiercely hot, are always dry and withering. It reflects the warmth 
of the southern and western sun. It arrests and condenses the 
water-laden clouds, which the trade-winds bring from the warm 
South Sea; and is the determining cause of the diurnal movement 
of the land and sea breezes. After sunset the cooled air begins 
to flow down from the mountains toward the sea; by the middle 
of the forenoon the heated air rises along the face of the moun¬ 
tains, and the sea-tempered air moves mountainward to fill the 
vacuum. Rarely does either current become more than a gentle 
breeze of from four to six miles per hour. After sunrise and after 
sunset come two or more hours of neutralized currents, when the 
chimney-smokes go straight upward, and one may carry an un¬ 
shaded and unshaken flame whither he will. One who will be 
quiet, may have, from eleven to three, what temperature he may 
choose. The mercury may stand at no° on the outward face of 
the southern piazza and at 78° on the outward face of the northern 
piazza. 

“ Between the Sierra Madre and the coast, and, in a general 
way, parallel to both, is an often-interrupted range of lower hills, 
called, as they go from the west to the east, the Santa Monica, 
Cahuenga, Verdugo, Arroyo, and San Jose Hills; and between 
them and the Sierra Madre is inclosed the wide and beautiful val¬ 
ley of the San Gabriel River and its upland terrace or bench. 
Pasadena, which lies in the angle between the Arroyo and the 
Sierra Madre, is separated from the general San Gabriel Valley 
by a terrace about one hundred feet high at its western end, which 
slowly merges into the general plain as it goes eastward. 

Pasadena, with its outlying districts of South Pasadena, 
Olivewood, Lamanda Park, Sierra Madre, and Monk’s Hill, cov¬ 
ers about twenty square miles. 

“ Soil.—The soil is a gray gravel, more or less mixed with 
brown loam. It is light and porous; the waters go down and 
come up through it. It is said, on good authority, that there 
are large springs on the summits of the Sierra Madre. The sur¬ 
face drainage is small but the ground water is near; for in many 


PA SSADENA . 


151 

places good wells are easily made, and the plains and hillsides 
here and there are studded with great oaks and sycamores, which 
go on in perennial growth through dry and wet years; and the 
groves and avenues of eucalyptus trees show trunks, some a 
hundred feet high, grown from slips or seed in ten or twelve 
years. The soil produces freely all kinds of trees and fruits be¬ 
longing to the subtropical and temperate zones. The apple and 
the apricot, the cabbage and the cactus, the grape and the guava, 
the oak and the olive, the pine and the palm, flourish side by side, 
each almost as well as in its native habitat. 

“ Water.—The water hardly appears in its natural channels. 
As it comes down from the mountain ravines it is drawn off, in 
open ditches and in pipes, and distributed for irrigation and do¬ 
mestic use. One learns the use and beauty of water here in a way 
and a measure which is seldom known in the East, for here the 
supply seems insufficient; there is more of it now than there 
used to be, and it is said to be capable of still further large devel¬ 
opment by tunneling the hills, and by sinking artesian wells on 
the plains. The pressure in Pasadena is sufficient to carry it to 
the top of the buildings on the highest lands which are occupied. 


Analysis. 



By Ragsky.— 
Spradel Spring, 
Carlsbad, Bo¬ 
hemia.* 

By Hilgard—Uni¬ 
versity California, 
Sierra Mad re 
water.t 


Grains. 

Grains. 

Total of salts in wine-gallon. 

361.OO 

18.9 

Sulphate and chloride of sodium. 

229.63 

9.I 

Carbonate of sodium. 

90 OO 

0.4 

f lime. ) 



Carbonates of •< magnesia. j- 

27.62 

9.4 

f silica.) 



Sulphate of lime. 

II .OO 

0.0 

Phosphates, fluorides, etc. ) 

4-75 

0.0 

Iron, strontium, etc.i 

Total. 

361.OO 

18.9 


* Reference, Handbook of Medical Science, 
f Letter from Professor Hilgard. 































152 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


In its sensible properties it is tasteless, inodorous, clear, lus¬ 
trous, free from gas, and of natural temperature. Analysis shows 
it to be a considerably mineralized water, containing enough of 
the alkaline salts to make it, in common parlance, rather hard. 
It carries 18.9 grains of solid matter to the wine-gallon, and would 
seem to be a feeble counterpart to the Carlsbad waters, as will be 
seen by the accompanying comparison. 

“ Thus, the principal salts are the same and the ratio of their 
distribution, and of the total mineralization is, roughly, as 20.1. 
Chemically, the water seems to be ‘ deobstruent ’—i. e., it is very 
slightly laxative and diuretic, but not to such a degree as to be 
noticed by those who are accustomed to it. It does not produce 
increase of urination in the diabetic, or in the earlier stages of 
Bright’s disease. Organic contamination will be found in it if it 
is taken from the open ditches or from vegetating reservoirs, but 
is not found in that which is piped direct from the source. The 
later condition will soon be general in Pasadena. 

“ Temperature.—The temperature is less absolutely equable 
than in the neighboring seacoast towns. As Pasadena is not a 
station of the United States Signal Service, and Los Angeles is, 
I take the records of the latter place—distance from Pasadena 
eight miles: 


Place. 

Elevation. 

Rain-days. 

Cloudiness. 

Humidity. 

Rainfall. 

Jan.and 

Feb. 

Mar. and 

April. 

May and 3 

June. 2 

ERAT 

C . 

be 

' -> 

Sept, and c 

Oct. § 

Nov. and 

Dec. 

Mean. 

New York. 


122 

41 

73 

43 

27 

41 

62 

72 

55 

34 

48 

Aiken, S. C. 

585 

132 

37 

58 

5i 

45 

56 

72 

8 l 

68 

48 

61 

Jacksonville, Fla. 

37 

127 

36 

68 

67 

54 

63 

79 

82 

72 

58 

68 

San Antonio, Texas. .. . 

676 

113 

2 9 

67 

34 

43 

66 

81 

8 l 

61 

50 

63 

Los Angeles, Cal. 

350 

51 

28 

67 

16 

54 

58 

64 

65 

62 

55 

59 


St. Paul 
New York 
Jacksonville 
San Antonio 
Aiken 

Los Angeles 


11. 


57- 


45- 


■ 38. 

■ 38 . 
36 . 


Difference of the 
means of the two 
coldest and the two 
warmest months. 
Algiers. ... 23 
Mentone... 33 













































PASSADENA. 


* 5 j 


“ A much more instructive indication is obtained by noting 
the difference between the mean temperature of the hot and cold 
months, which is indicated graphically by the black lines, and 
arithmetically by the figures attached. It thus appears that Los 
Angeles has fewer rainy days, less rainfall, a much more equable 
temperature, closely approximating the ideal mean of sixty de¬ 
grees. In dryness of the air Aiken exceeds it, but it must be re¬ 
membered that Aiken is ten times as far from the sea as Los 
Angeles, and considerably higher in level, which is, in fact, not 
an average point for Southern California. 

“ Rainfall.—The rainfall varies greatly in different years. The 
highest recorded is forty-seven inches in 1884; the lowest is five 
inches in 1876. Eighteen inches is considered a fair supply, and 
is about the actual average. The rain falls largely at night. It is 
rare to see more than four rainy days in succession. The season 
for rain is from November to May, during which period there 
will be sixteen to eighteen rainy days, in spells of two or three 
days at a time, and an occasional rainy night between two bright 
days. It is rare that a whole day is cloudy; but cloudless weeks 
are common. Fogs are rare; dews are light, and rarely noted 
except on low lands. 

“ Clinical Histories.—In earlier days Pasadena was an out¬ 
lying pasture ground of the San Gabriel Plain, and subject to 
the administration of the Franciscan Mission of San Gabriel. For 
nearly twenty years, from 1830 to 1849, the Mexican governors 
curtailed the authority, fed upon the revenues, and parceled out 
the lands of the Church. 

“ When it became apparent that California would soon become 
part of the United States, Governors Alvarado and Pico made 
haste to distribute among their retainers and friends all the un¬ 
granted lands, and their grants were, for the most part, held valid 
by the Government of the United States. For the last twenty 
years these grants have been divided again and again, and have 
come into the market. Thus, in 1873, about fifteen hundred acres, 
held under the Garjias and Wilson grants, were sold to a colony 
of Indiana people. The financial crisis of 1873 practically broke 
up the organization, but some of its members remained, and from 
1873 to 1876 some thirty-five families, containing one hundred and 
fifty members, settled upon the territory and have remained there. 
To these have been added, particularly within the last three years, 


154 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


strangers enough to raise the population to somewhat more than 
five thousand,* among whom the old-timers are dispersed. 

“ There are no authentic records, in fact none of any sort, of 
the vital history of the original settlers; but by conversation with 
some of their number, and a comparison of their statements, I 
have derived the following information. From the time and ef¬ 
forts given to verifying its points, I believe it closely approxi¬ 
mates actual facts. 

“ It must be remembered that a portion of these original im¬ 
migrants came as confirmed invalids, a larger portion on account 
of their inability or unwillingness to endure the harsher climates 
in which they had previously lived. Such a community could not 
be assumed to possess average vitality or expectation of life. 

“ They were obliged to create their homes on the new and 
arid soil of an upland plain. Only gradually did comfortable 
houses replace the tents and shanties and ‘ adobes ’ in which for 
years they were harbored. Such conditions do not seem to offer 
average protection to infancy and age and feeble life. 

“ But the record seems to say that there were thirty-five fami¬ 
lies, comprising, with children brought with them and children 
born here, one hundred and forty-nine persons. 

“ Allowing ten years as the average period of residence, and 
multiplying one hundred and forty-nine by ten, we have fourteen 
hundred and ninety years of aggregate life. In these families 
thus aggregated, including old, the diseased, and the infants, 
there have occurred, in ten years, thirteen deaths; less than one 
per cent! Most of these were from causes quite independent of 
local influences. Thus, the causes of death given are, cerebral 
tumor, one; diabetes, one; apoplexy, one; diseases of the lungs, 
four; old age, one; heart disease, four; children, four; thirteen 
in all. 

“ Several cases, said to be ‘ diseased lungs,’ have issued in per¬ 
manent recovery. There have been no cases of consumption 
among children born here, although hereditary predisposition 
must be presumed for many. There has been no death in these 
thirty-five families from typhus or typhoid fevers, diphtheria, 
measles, or whooping-cough. In the whole community, number- 


* Written in 1887; population now ten thousand. 



PASSADENA. 


155 


ing now nearly five thousand people, I have been able to learn 
of but four deaths from scarlet fever and one from diphtheria in 
ten years. Twice in the last ten years there have been local evi¬ 
dences of diarrhoea and dysentery, mild in character and without 
mortality; also a few cases of typhoid fever, all traceable to local 
causes—water contamination from open ditches and neglected 
reservoirs. These causes were promptly removed, with speedy 
suppression of the disease. 

“ It has been thought that miasmatic diseases are likely to 
come in, as the irrigating water is spread over an annually in¬ 
creasing area, and the land is shaded by increasing areas of or¬ 
chards and groves. 

“ There are reasons for doubting the truth of this assumption. 
In one of the oldest orchards lives a family whose eight children 
have been reared on purely irrigated land. There has never been 
among them one case of miasmatic disease; though some of them 
are now adults. Afew years since an ague-stricken colony of 
forty-three persons was brought from the ‘ bottoms ’ of the Tom- 
bigbee River, in Alabama, and placed on the oldest, lowest, and 
dampest ranches of the San Gabriel region. For two years ague 
was rife among them, but the residual effects of their former 
abode have been eliminated, and now ague is either unknown or 
very rare among them. A great improvement in their general 
appearance is noted. 

“ It would be hard to find anywhere a better-developed and 
more wholesome-looking body of children than you may see in 
the public schools of Pasadena. 

“ Thus we may conclude that the vital record of the place, up 
to the present time, has been very exceptionally good. Henceforth 
the population will contain a large number of persons who have 
been sent thither as a forlorn hope—a last resort—and mortality 
from chest diseases may be very large. It is with a melancholy 
and embittered sense that the local medical men recognize that 
so many are thoughtlessly or cruelly sent only to die among 
strangers and far from all the resources of home.” 


In the southern part of Pasadena was the great Ray¬ 
mond Hotel that has entertained thirty-five thousand 
guests within nine months, the fall, winter, and spring of 



View of Sierra Madre Mountains and Pasadena, from Raymond Hotel. 





























































































































































PA S SA DEN A . 


157 


1886—’87. It had a station of its own called Raymond. 
The hotel was located on a very commanding site, and the 
illustration on the opposite page gives an idea of the view 
from its veranda. The hotel was destroyed by fire a few 
months ago, and now the tourist or health seeker must 
depend on the Hotel Painter, Hotel Green, or one of the 
numerous private boarding houses. Two miles nearer 
Los Angeles than Pasadena is— 

South Pasadena , a rapidly-growing town, with numer¬ 
ous beautiful homes, orange groves, etc. 

Four miles farther from Los Angeles than Pasadena, 
on the same railroad, is— 

Lamanda Park, a town with stores and other village 
accessories. This is the nearest station to the Sierra 
Madre Villa, a noted hotel for tourists. Kinneyloa, the 
ranch of the Hon. Abbott Kinney, is near this point. It 
contains one of the largest orange orchards in California. 
An illustration on page 91 gives a view of the place, with 
a grove of live-oaks in the foreground. 

Coming from Los Angeles, the first village is— 

San Gabriel, a delightful old town on the Southern Pa¬ 
cific Railroad. One mile from this town is the noted 
Sunny Slope Vineyard, sold some years ago to an Eng¬ 
lish company for one million dollars. This tract is now 
being sold in subdivisions. 

Here is the San Gabriel Mission, established by Padre 
Junipero in 1771. The building is still in good condition, 
and is a point of universal interest. San Gabriel is nine 
miles from Los Angeles, and has long been noted for its 
salubrious climate and aged people. In 1878 Senora Eu¬ 
lalia Perez de Guilen died here, aged one hundred and 
forty-three years, she having been born in Lower Cali¬ 
fornia in 1735.* September 5, 1854, Maria Francisca 
Villabobas de Zavia died, aged one hundred and twelve 


* The age of Senora de Guilen has been established beyond doubt. 




158 


CALIFORNIA OF FIIE SOUTH. 


years. A mile from San Gabriel is the beautiful village 
of— 

Alhambra .—Here is an elegant hotel, bank, a school- 
house, several churches, and orchards of almost every va¬ 
riety of fruits—apricots, nectarines, apples, pears, plums, 
guavas, oranges, lemons, and limes. All reach their great¬ 
est possibilities in this vicinity. Near Alhambra is the 
winery and distilleries of the San Gabriel Wine Company, 
the largest building of the kind in the world. 

Sierra Madre is the name of a village near the eastern 
edge of this township. It is not on any railroad, but the 
nearest station is Santa Anita, on the California Southern, 
sixteen miles from Los Angeles. Sierra Madre is the resi¬ 
dence of a large number of very wealthy, aristocratic, 
highly-educated families who have elegant mountain 
villas, some of which are on such a large scale that one is 
carried back in thought to the castles of Europe. The 
climate here is very healthful, and all of this foothill re¬ 
gion is noted as a resort for invalids. 

Here, again, the invalid should remember that the best 
way to gain health is to get a cottage, live an independent 
life, avoiding contact with other invalids. 

Mount Wilson .—Away up in the mountains back of 
Pasadena is Mount Wilson. A little to the north is Mount 
Lowe, where a remarkable cable incline-railway has been 
built to the summit of Echo Mountain, where there is a 
comfortable hotel and an astronomical observatory. An 
electric railway winds along the precipitous mountain 
slopes four miles farther and higher toward Mount Lowe, 
the highest peak in the range. This trip should be made 
by all visitors to Southern California. 

El Monte, Azusa, and San Josd Townships. 

These three large townships lie side by side south of 
Soledad Township, bordered on the west by San Gabriel 
Township, and on the east by San Bernardino County. 



A Sierra Madre Residence. 





















































































































































































































































































































































i6o 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH . 


This one tier of townships, resting here together and 
forming about one eighteenth part of Los Angeles Coun¬ 
ty, contains almost everything that mortal man could de¬ 
sire or eye could wish to see. 

Traversed by railroads, rivers, and mountains; with 
numerous villas, ornamented with the palm, the helio¬ 
trope, and the rose; surrounded by orchards and vine¬ 
yards of luxuriant growth, and widely diverse products; 
where almost every home has an altitude of from one to 
four thousand feet; with few fogs or frosts; with the per¬ 
petual view of the valleys dotted with towns, the ocean 
flecked with white sails, and the purple-tinted mountains 
of the islands. A two hours’ tramp to the north will lead 
to mountain dells, waterfalls, ferns, and wild flowers, or 
a half-hour’s ride on the cars will leave one in the center 
of the city of Los Angeles. 

The Southern Pacific Railroad traverses the southern 
portion of these townships, and has in them the follow¬ 
ing stations: Savanna, El Monte, Puente, Spadra, and 
Pomona. A branch has recently been constructed to Co¬ 
vina, near Azusa. 

Savanna is an unimportant station in a wealthy agri¬ 
cultural region. 

El Monte is the center of a territory very much like 
that of Downey. Here again, like Downey, we find corn, 
hogs, and cattle predominating, and here again, also, we 
find, as in the vicinity of Downey, the great bulk of the 
population has come from the Southern States. 

Following the San Gabriel River from Downey to El 
Monte, this is the chief line of products. Where hogs and 
corn are leading sources of wealth you can rest assured 
there is no health resort. This small section around El 
Monte is totallv different from nineteen twentieths of the 

j 

lands in these townships. The altitudes, as can be seen bv 
the tables, is only two hundred and eighty-six feet, and 
the land is moist. For the farmer who wishes to raise 


POMONA. 


161 


hogs, deciduous fruits, and grain, there are great induce¬ 
ments, but the health seeker, or the person who desires 
to grow citrus fruits or raisin grapes, should avoid this 
small strip of country. 

Puente is fifty feet higher than El Monte, and twenty 
miles east of Los Angeles. It is the center of the Puente 
oil district, and is on this account a point of interest. There 
is here a large hotel. A fuller report of the oil wells can 
be found in the chapter on Petroleum. 

Spadra is a station ten miles east of Puente, situated 
at an altitude of seven hundred and five feet. 

Pomona .—Pomona is three miles farther east. In 1875 
a land company, in which L. M. Holt, Milton Thomas, 
and T. A. Garey, of Los Angeles, were the leading spirits, 
purchased a great body of rolling land, upon which they 
laid out a town they named Pomona. On Washington's 
birthday, 1876, there was an excursion from Los Angeles 
to the embryo town, to attend an auction sale of lots. 

Many went who were not interested in lots, but who 
spent the day joyfully wandering over the plains, through 
the rich, green carpet of fern-like alfileria—a wild grass 
that grows profusely throughout Southern California 
and furnishes food for all varieties of stock, not only in 
the winter and spring, when it is green, but also in mid¬ 
summer, when, without any harvesting, it becomes sun- 
cured, and is an answer to the question often asked, 
“ How can stock keep so fat where there is no green 
grass? ” 

But on this February day the alfileria had on its deli¬ 
cate bluish-pink blossom, which gave the green carpet a 
lighter tint, that was here and there again relieved by 
bright orange rugs, varying in size from a few yards 
square to acres in breadth. What were these brilliant 
rugs? 

On closer view they proved to be solid beds of brilliant 
poppies, that at this time of the year reach perfection. 



Farmhouse in Vernon 
























POMONA. 


163 


Such beautiful bouquets as were gathered on that bright 
February day! Happy was every child with its hands 
full. There were lavender-colored lilies, bright-red cardi¬ 
nal flowers, pretty crucifers, vast bunches of violets, 
cream-colored bellflowers, and the delicately-shaded tulip. 
Too bad to change God’s flower garden into a busy, sor¬ 
did town! 

Twenty Februaries have come and gone since that 
auction sale, and wonderful changes have come to pass. 
Here on this plain is now a city of seven thousand inhab¬ 
itants, with banks, schoolhouses, and churches; and a 
great Congregational college, making Pomona an intel¬ 
lectual center. There is no available record of the number 
of thousands of acres of apricots and other fruits around 
this town. The surrounding country is a great orchard, 
and Flora has stepped aside to make place for Pomona. 

The town of Pomona has an elevation of eight hun¬ 
dred and sixty-seven feet, and in the immediate vicinity 
can be found any altitude between this and fifteen hundred 
feet. The citizens have been so busily engaged in their 
commercial pursuits that they have taken little thought 
of the advantageous location of their town for a health 
resort, but it is nevertheless a desirable point for persons 
with pulmonary troubles. 

The air is dry and pure. The daily breeze that comes 
in from the ocean has, in its journey of fifty miles, lost its 
moisture, but it still serves the purpose of equalizing the 
temperature and keeping midsummer cool and midwinter 
warm. Pomona is blessed with an abundant water supply. 
There are seventy artesian w r ells, with an average flow 
each of two hundred thousand gallons in twenty-four 
hours, in this vicinity, and a large body of water is brought 
down from the snow-covered sides of Old Baldy, through 
a rift in its side called San Antonio Canon. 

There are brickyards, pipe works, wineries, feed mills, 
mattress factories, fruit canneries, and numerous other 


164 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


industries. There are several nurseries, one firm having 
in 1887 s °ld over thirty thousand orange trees. 

Pomona is the center of the olive industry in Southern 
California. Hundreds of thousands of young trees are 
sent to all parts of the coast every year. 

The Methodists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Con- 
gregationalists, Baptists, Disciples of Christ, Phnversal- 
ists, Catholics, German Lutherans, and the Band of Holi¬ 
ness, all have churches here. There are lodges of Masons, 
Odd Fellows* Ancient Order of United Workmen, 
Knights of Pythias, a post of the Grand Army of the Re¬ 
public, and a Young Men’s Christian Association. There 
are two newspapers—the Times-Courier and the Prog¬ 
ress. 

The Santa Anita Ranch .—From two to five miles north 
of and parallel to the Southern Pacific Railroad is the 
California Southern Railroad, whose track is laid along 
the base of the mountains. The line of this road has been 
the scene of a wonderful growth. Promising, ambitious, 
wide-awake little towns have sprung up as if by magic. 

The traveler will, after half an hour’s ride on this road, 
have passed by the site of the Raymond Hotel, through 
the city of Pasadena, and reached Santa Anita, the first 
station in El Monte Township. This is the nearest station 
to the village of Sierra Madre, and it is also the nearest 
to the celebrated Santa Anita Ranch, the home of E. J. 
Baldwin, better known as “ Lucky ” Baldwin. Here, at 
Mr. Baldwin’s home, fourteen miles from Los Angeles, 
are many acres of orange groves, hundreds of acres of 
vineyard, beautiful lawns, an artificial lake and fountains, 
and a stable of probably the most noted horses in the 
United States. 

Here are to be seen a large number of fleet racers 
which have made a wide reputation on the American turf. 
This is the place where the noted wines and brandies that 
bear the Baldwin brand are made. 



Santa Anita Ranch. 























































CALIFORNIA OF TIIE SOUTH. 


166 


Mr. Baldwin farms on a very extensive scale, and pro¬ 
duces almost everything in the way of grain, fruit, and 
stock. He has in this vicinity the following ranches: 


Santa Anita Ranch. . .. 

La Puente Ranch. 

San Francisquito Ranch 
Felipe Lugo Ranch.... 

Portero Grande. 

Merced. 

Portero Chico. 


10,000 

U 

19,000 

u 

6,000 

u 

3,ooo 

a 

0 

0 

0^ 

*-0 

u 

3,ooo 

u 

100 

u 


A total of. 46,100 acres here, 

while west of Los Angeles is the Cienega Ranch of four 
thousand acres, carried on as a model dairy. Mr. Bald¬ 
win has a great deal of the best business property in the 
city of Los Angeles, and four thousand acres of land in 
other parts of Los Angeles County. Much of his prop¬ 
erty is now being subdivided and sold in small farms to 
actual settlers. 

Every visitor to Los Angeles should take what is 
known as the Grand Round , which is a day’s drive from 
Los Angeles. This trip includes the following places: 
The Raymond Hotel site, from which there is a good view 
of mountains, valleys, and ocean: Pasadena: the Sierra 
Madre Villa, where a lunch will be relished; Mr. Bald¬ 
win’s Santa Anita Ranch; Sunny-Slope winery and dis¬ 
tillery; San Gabriel Mission, where the visitor is welcome 
to enter; and then, past the winery of the San Gabriel 
Wine Company, to Los Angeles. The tourist should 
have a driver or a guide, and he should see that the driver 
takes him to these places in the order in which they are 
here noted. 

Two miles east of Santa Anita is Arcadia —an embryo 
town in a beautiful location that was laid out during the 
boom of 1887—thM h as recently been plotted and sold by 











MONROVIA. 

Mr. Unruh. It is in the center of Mr. Baldwin’s posses¬ 
sions. 

Monrovia is two miles east of Arcadia, and is the won¬ 
der of this coast. 

Its history reads like a romance. Its founder, W. N. 
Monroe, a man whom it is a pleasure to know, bought a 
large tract of land in 1885 of Mr. E. J. Baldwin. Realiz¬ 
ing the advantages of the location, he decided to found a 
town here, and in May, 1886, the town site was laid out 
in lots. Now we find a beautiful prosperous town, with 
several churches, a schoolhouse that cost fifteen thousand 
dollars, a line of street cars, large hotels under excellent 
management, a bank, large business blocks in which mer¬ 
chants are doing a thriving business, and beautiful homes 
surrounded by semi-tropical plants and productive or¬ 
chards. Monrovia is specially favored in the matter of 
water supply, water being deeded with every tract and 
town lot. 

Monrovia is especially commended as a health resort. 
It is nineteen miles from Los Angeles, and lies close to 
the base of the Sierra Madre Mountains. It has an eleva¬ 
tion of about twelve hundred feet, but here, as elsewhere, 
the victim of lung disease will do best if he has his own 
cottage, flower garden, and carriage, so that he may lead 
a life independent of hotels, and completely separated 
from other invalids. There are at least a dozen trains daily 
between Monrovia and Los Angeles, on the Southern 
California and Southern Pacific lines. 

Mr. C. L. Holder, the well-known writer, in a letter to 
the Los Angeles Times, says: 

“ Monrovia has been fortunate in the fact that a large 
number of wealthy men have settled in the place, and are 
doing their utmost to render it a beautiful resort. Among 
these are W. N. Monroe, the founder of the town, whose 
fine residence is a sample of what can be done in a year or 
so. It looks like a place half a century old, vet the jack 


CALIFORNIA OF TIIE SOUTH. 


168 

rabbit held possession not long ago. Great groups of ba¬ 
nanas wave their graceful leaves, roses, pampas grass, 
and a wealth of flowers and fruit tend to make this place 
a model Southern California home. One of the main 
avenues is about a mile long, and planted on both sides 
closely with these graceful trees, which, owing to the 
mildness of the climate here, bear well.” 

It is said that a Texan selected a home in Monrovia, 
and told Mr. Monroe he would be back in an hour with 
the money. When he returned, another man had bought 
the place and paid for it. The next day the Texan came 
back, and asked the Mayor what he would take for an¬ 
other property he had chosen. As soon as a price was 
agreed upon, the Texan whipped out a six-shooter, and, 
leveling it on Mr. Monroe, ordered him not to exchange 
words with another person until the papers were signed 
and transferred. 

This anecdote slightly exaggerates the great desire of 
people to get homes in this vicinity. J. I. Case (owner of 
“ J.I.C.”), of Wisconsin, the Messrs. Studebaker,of South 
Bend, Indiana, and many other wealthy people have beau¬ 
tiful winter homes here. 

“ Monrovia sits like a beautiful queen, 

With scepter of flowers in a kingdom of green; 

Her orange groves bring her their tribute of gold, 

While gardens and vineyards rich treasures unfold. 

“ Her sweet, balmy breath gives the feeble new life. 

Her bright, sunny smile woos them on to new strife; 

She charms and refreshes with pure, gushing fountains, 

That come with their coolness from snowy-capped mountains.” 


San Antonio Canon. 

Duarte, Azusa, Glendora, La Verne, San Dimas, 
Lordsburg, North Pomona, and Claremont are all pros¬ 
perous towns along the California Central Railroad. They 



A Monrovia Residence 
































CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


170 

are all in the midst of good land for citrus and deciduous 
fruits, and are all good localities for the average case of 
incipient phthisis. The mountains just back of all these 
places are sources of never-ending interest. Near Sierra 
Madre are gold mines. These numerous canons, lead¬ 
ing up to mountain peaks along this ridge, and any of 
these towns along the California Central, are good places 
to start from for a mountain climb after ferns, flowers, or 
game. 

The most noted of these is San Antonio Canon, and 
the following extracts, from a description in the Over¬ 
land for August, 1887, of Our Camp in the Canon, by 
Belle J. Bidwell, graphically tells how the writer and an¬ 
other lady, who is called “ the Invalid,” spent ten weeks 
camping here, four thousand feet above the level of the 
sea: 


“ . . . . This canon of San Antonio is a great cleft in the Si¬ 
erra Madre Range. We are told that seventeen years ago it 
was ‘ as pretty a canon as you'd find anywhere. A man could gal¬ 
lop his horse clear up to the sawmill/ Some mighty storm, per¬ 
haps a cloud-burst, in the mountains, aided in its work of destruc¬ 
tion by the felling of trees for the mill, has swept down the canon, 
carrying in its flood rocks and trees from the mountain-sides, 
making for itself a path, and leaving huge bowlders and immense 
tree trunks in its course. 

“ The sawmill is in ruins now—whether picturesque or not 
we did not learn, for it is nearly at the head of the canon, too far 
away for a visit. The river is now but a small creek, probably 
from fifteen to twenty feet wide most of the way. It winds its 
way here and there, and has to be forded nine times by all travel¬ 
ers coming up the canon with teams. It is by no means a quiet 
stream; its voice is loud enough to drown human voices near its 
banks, and, when one wakes in the night, the roar seems like that 
of a storm of wind and rain. Great alders, willows, and live-oaks 
grow beside it, apparently fighting for a foothold in the rocks, 
and liable at any time during the winter rains to be torn from their 
places and laid prostrate across the water. 


SAN ANTONIO CANON. 


i;i 

“We kept a ‘thermometer report’ for a local paper, having 
our thermometer hung above the table in a convenient place for 
taking observations at meal-times. Ninety-two degrees was the 
highest temperature we had at noon, and forty-seven was the low¬ 
est at seven o’clock in the morning. These figures were ex¬ 
ceptional, the usual range being from sixty to eighty. The cool¬ 
est mornings we sat by a camp fire until the sunshine reached 
our camp, when fire was no longer necessary. On the warmest 
days our favorite seats were the shadiest rocks very near the 
water. Four thousand feet above the ocean we thought the fogs 
that cover the valleys so much of the time would not reach us; 
but one morning at six o’clock the housekeeper came into the 
tent singing, ‘ When the mists have cleared away,’ and we looked 
out upon a dense gray wall shutting us in on every side from even 
the nearest hills. Three hours later nothing remained of it but 
a few curling cloud wreaths on the mountain peaks. Several 
times the early risers looking down the canon saw the fog bank 
coming up, but only once more did it reach us during the ten 
weeks and a half of our stay. It was the rainy season over to the 
east of us in Arizona, and sometimes our beautiful blue sky was 
made more beautiful by gray or white banks of cloud that rose 
above the mountains and floated over the canon, falling once in 
showers that astonished us, for the oldest inhabitant ‘ never saw 
rain at this time of the year.’ . . . 

“ There are sycamores all through the canon, growing most 
abundantly in the ravines or little side canons where the brooks 
come down to join the larger stream. Their white trunks, twisted 
in fantastic forms, and the weird mistletoe drooping from the 
boughs in great bunches, make them the strangest-looking trees 
in the canon. The mistletoe seems to prefer the sycamore, though 
it grows sometimes in the alders. Probably the live-oak, with its 
glossy, dark-green foliage and graceful shapes, is the prettiest 
tree. The California bay, or laurel, which may be called a tree 
from its size, though usually growing in bushy form, is beautiful 
in color, and is a favorite because of its fragrance. The children 
gathered wild cherries from a shrub that bears shining, prickly 
leaves; but the fruit, of about the size and color of some culti¬ 
vated cherries, is mostly stone and skin. The low growth of 
shrubs that covers the gentler slopes of the mountains—the cha¬ 
parral—is made up of the grease wood, mountain mahogany, 


172 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


buckthorn, cherry, manzanita, herba santa, or ‘ mountain balm,’ 
from which a medicine is prepared lor pulmonary affections, 
and a few others, the names of which we did not learn.” 


ORANGE COUNTY. 

The county of Orange was segregated from Los An¬ 
geles in 1889. It is a small county, containing only six 
hundred and seventy-one square miles. 

Anaheim Township—Westminster, Santa Ana, and San Juan 

T ownships. 

Like an L from an old-fashioned house, these four 
townships extend southeast from the main body of the 
county. Santa Ana and San Juan Townships are bound¬ 
ed on the north by San Bernardino County. San Juan 
Township is bounded on the southeast by San Diego 
County. 

There is in these four townships a wonderful diver¬ 
sity of products. An immense cornfield and a beautiful 
orange grove can frequently be found within a stone’s 
throw of each other, while the apple and the pear, the 
lemon and the lime, the raisin grape and the wine grape, 
beets and pumpkins, barley and wheat, cattle and sheep, 
honey and butter, horses and poultry, pomegranates and 
figs, all unite to swell the income of the land-owner. 

The centers of population in these townships are Ana¬ 
heim, Westminster, Orange, Tustin, Santa Ana, and San 
Juan-by-the-Sea. 

Anaheim .—Anaheim is the oldest of these towns, and 
is known as the “ Mother Colony.” The following inter¬ 
esting description of the founding of this town is by 
Major B. C. Truman, and was first published in the New 
York Times: 

“ One of the most interesting places in Southern California, 
or in fact in the world, that I have visited is Anaheim, about 


ANAHEIM. 


173 


twenty-eight miles from the city of Los Angeles. Wine-making 
has been, is, and always will be, the leading industry of Anaheim. 
The light soil has been proved, by nearly thirty years of experi¬ 
ence, to be well adapted for the successful growth of the vine. 
Although Mr. Wetmore, who is very good authority generally, 
believes that the berger will not do well in Anaheim, it is well 
known that the Mission, Zinfandel, Black Malvoisie, Mataro, 
Trousseau, and Golden Chasselas, are as successful there as in 
any portion of the State. 

“ It was for the pursuit of this industry that Anaheim was 
first organized about thirty years ago, and I believe its establish¬ 
ment as a colony was one of the first subdivisions of large tracts 
of land and improvements by water systems in the State. It was 
projected in 1857 by a party of wealthy Germans of San Fran¬ 
cisco, who conceived the happy idea of converting some portion 
of Los Angeles County into a collection of homes and vineyards 
for a certain number of the industrious and deserving of their 
race, and at once formed themselves into an acting body with the 
title of the Los Angeles County Vineyard Association. After 
mature deliberation, the association resolved to employ a com¬ 
petent and proper person to select a site and make necessary 
arrangements for the purchase of a thousand acres of land some¬ 
where between the city of Los Angeles and the sea, with a view 
to water, soil, and climate. The surveyor of the county was se¬ 
lected as superintendent, and was at once instructed regarding 
the general order of the original plan of the projectors, and em¬ 
powered with authority and furnished with funds to erect a vine¬ 
yard or a collection of vineyards, the details of the erection of 
said vineyards to be entirely according to his own taste, inasmuch 
as they should not fail to correspond, on the whole, with the plan 
proposed and agreed upon by the association. The site selected 
was a part of the Rancho San Juan Cajon de Santa Ana. The 
superintendent engaged himself at the work he had proposed 
to perform, and purchased eleven hundred acres of land from 
Don Juan Pacifico Ondiveras, and divided it into fifty lots of 
twenty acres each, reserving a portion in the center for streets and 
public buildings. Before the end of the year the plat had assumed 
a tangible shape. The entire site was fenced with willows, the 
boundaries of the twenty-acre lots were made and fenced, ditches 
were constructed, and four hundred acres of vines were planted 


174 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


before the expiration of the second year. Eight acres in each 
lot had been successfully planted with grapes, leaving the balance 
(twelve acres) for agricultural purposes, pasture, etc. Toward 
the close of 1859 the superintendent had successfully carried out 
the plan of the association at an expense of seventy thousand 
dollars. The final action then took place on the part of the so¬ 
ciety, which was to settle some German person upon each of 
the vineyards on the payment of fourteen hundred dollars, just 
one fiftieth of the aggregate cost of the whole, the selection of 
each vineyard to he made by drawing lots, each person to receive 
in addition to his vineyard a town lot. leaving fourteen for public 
purposes. Two thirds of the entire plat were at once taken up, 
and gradually the whole number was converted into many little 
German homes, containing a happy and thriving community.” 

Anaheim, during these thirty-eight years, has contin¬ 
ued to be pre-eminently a vine-growing and wine-manu¬ 
facturing town, although of late many orchards of wal¬ 
nuts and other trees have been planted. Several thou¬ 
sand acres are cultivated in sugar beets, which yield a 
heavy percentage of sugar. They are at present sold 
to the Chino factory, but bonds have been issued for a 
factory at Anaheim. There are now a number of wineries 
in Anaheim and its immediate vicinity. The business of 
wine-making has always been in the hands of the German 
colonists, and they have made money steadily almost from 
the beginning. Many have grown rich. It is no credit 
to a man to say that he has made a fortune through specu¬ 
lation in real estate. It simply means that he has gam¬ 
bled on the fluctuations in property and won, but when 
it can be said that a community has grown rich from the 
products of the land, then eulogies may be justly pro¬ 
nounced on both people and soil. 

The residents of Anaheim have continued year after 
year constant in their work, and wholly unmindful of the 
boom and speculating fever of outside places. 

Their homes were made comfortable, flowers were 
kept beautiful in their gardens, and the pepper tree, the 


FULLER TON. 


175 


sycamore, and the acacia shaded their sidewalks, but there 
has not been the spirit of what is known as public im¬ 
provement. 

When the Southern Pacific Company wanted to give 
them the boon of a railroad, and asked for right of way 
and ground for a station in the center of the town, they 
answered: “ No; we do not want our vineyards cut in 
two by a railroad.” 

“ It will double the value of your property.” 

“ Will it double the number of tons of grapes our vine¬ 
yards will produce? We do not want to sell our vine¬ 
yards, consequently the increased valuation simply means 
increased taxation and not increased production.” The 
railroad skirted around the town, the station was located 
outside of the town limits, and the German was happy. 

Such has been the happy, quiet, prosperous life of the 
Anaheimer, but lately his equanimity has been seriously 
disturbed by the advent of another railroad. The Cali¬ 
fornia Southern now startles the Anaheim chicken from 
its roost. 

The Yankee has stepped into the arena, and Anaheim, 
in spite of its original industrious citizens, bids fair to be¬ 
come a city. It is twenty-eight miles from Los Angeles, 
with which it is connected by the Southern Pacific and 
California Southern Railroads. It now has a population 
of thirty-five hundred, and is growing rapidly. 

Two miles from Anaheim is the flourishing town of 
Fullerton , named for Mr. George H. Fullerton, a Los An¬ 
geles capitalist. Fullerton is on the California Southern 
Railroad, and in the midst of a rich territory. It contains 
the usual complement of hotels, churches, schoolhouses, 
and stores, besides a cannery, packing houses, etc. Large 
quantities of vegetables, fruits, and wool are shipped. 

Westminster is eight miles southwest of Anaheim, 
toward the ocean. It was started as a Presbyterian town, 
and the following sketch, from the Anaheim Gazette 


176 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


Pamphlet of 1879, gives an excellent general idea of the 
place: 

“ Westminster was started as a colony enterprise, by the Rev. 
L. P. Webber, in the fall of 1871. He selected a tract of level 
land between Anaheim and the ocean, comprising about eight 
thousand acres, afterward enlarged to ten thousand acres, and 
endeavored to call together persons who would heartily co-oper¬ 
ate in church, school, and social affairs, so as to get all the advan¬ 
tages of an old settlement from the beginning. After his death, 
in 1874, his work was continued, and the present status of the 
place is as follows: 

“ The original tract and addition is all sold and occupied in 
farms, mostly of forty acres each. The adjacent country has all 
been occupied, and a Westminster Township organized with a 
population estimated at about two thousand. There are four 
school districts—viz., Westminster, Las Bolsas, Garden Grove, 
and Alamitos. In the village are three neat church buildings, 
all complete and free from debt, which testify to the character 
of the people. They belong, respectively, to the Presbyterian, 
Methodist, and Congregational churches. Their spires can be 
seen from a long distance on the plain. In the village are also 
three stores of general merchandise, two smithies, one wagon 
shop, one harness shop, tin shop, milliner, shoemaker, etc. 

“ About two hundred and fifty artesian wells supply abundance 
of pure, cool water for all purposes, including irrigation, and their 
number can be indefinitely increased. Probably no other section 
of the United States has so many flowing wells. This constitutes 
the distinctive feature of this section. 

“ Barley averages about twenty centals to the acre: corn pro¬ 
duces from forty to one hundred bushels per acre, according to 
quality of land and care of cultivation; potatoes are raised in 
large quantities, and are very profitable. The soil is a sandy 
loam, varying from light to heavy, and very rich. The presence 
of alkali in the lower lands is an annoyance and an evil, but it 
has been demonstrated that cultivation and drainage will relieve 
this, the only drawback in the midst of other advantages. Stock, 
especially hogs, are profitably raised. Several packing estab¬ 
lishments are doing a large business, increasing yearly, in bacon, 
hams, and lard. In this direction there is room for indefinite 


ANAIIEIM LANDING. 


177 


expansion, with sure profits to men who understand the busi¬ 
ness. Several large dairies supply butter to the surrounding 
towns and to Los Angeles. A vegetable farm sends its products 
in every direction. 

“ Westminster makes no specialty of semi-tropical fruits, but 
lovers of trees, and of the profits of them, have an advantage here 
of making orchards, of apples especially, that will vie with the 
neighboring orange groves in yearly money returns, with less 
outlay and less delay. Our apples are already celebrated for good 
and keeping qualities, and the trees are very productive. West¬ 
minster nursery, exclusively for the northern fruits, supplies de¬ 
mands in this direction, and its trees have a well-known reputa¬ 
tion for quality and growth. The few old bearing apple trees here 
fully confirm all hopes of the health and profitableness of this 
branch of farming. 

“ The climate is all that could be desired, a refreshing sea 
breeze tempering the heat of summer. The sea, five miles away, 
gives opportunity for daily baths.” 

Westminster is noted for its wonderful peat lands, 
upon which crops of vegetables are raised that surpass 
belief. 

Anaheim Landing is four miles from Westminster and 
twelve miles from Anaheim. It is an interesting point for 
the lover of the ocean, and is also a place of considerable 
commercial importance. It is the ocean outlet for the 
products of this neighborhood. There is here a wharf 
and warehouse. In the vicinity of Westminster raising 
corn and hogs is very profitable. Thomas Edwards, in 
one year, cleared above his expenses of living and all 
other expenses over ten thousand dollars off of two hun¬ 
dred acres of corn. Land here averages cheaper than 
most other parts of the county. 

Garden Grove, a village close to Westminster, is the 
center of a community of farmers. 


13 


i78 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


Orange, Santa Ana, and Tustin. 

Orange, Santa Ana, and Tustin form the angles of a 
triangle. Santa Ana is three miles from Orange, and two 
miles from Tustin. They are connected by street rail¬ 
ways, railroads, and by delightful drives. Together they 
form one continuous avenue lined by homes, surrounded 
by orchards and vineyards, with three business centers. 

Orange is delightfully situated near the foot of the 
Santa Ana Mountains. Here and in the vicinity the fruit 
for which the town is named reaches perfection. The an¬ 
nual profit from a few acres of oranges here sounds fabu¬ 
lous. 

An acre of ground will support seventy-five trees, and 
these, after a few years in learning, will often yield an in¬ 
come of six hundred and seventy-five dollars per year. 
Orange has an excellent hotel and a large schoolhouse. 
There are Christian, Methodist Episcopal, Baptist, Ger¬ 
man Lutheran, and Presbyterian churches. 

But Orange has become most noted for its raisins. 
While Anaheim—five miles away—is a German, wine¬ 
making community, Orange is an American, raisin-pro¬ 
ducing community. The white Muscat grape, which is 
here used in raisin curing, matures at least three or four 
weeks sooner than in the San Gabriel or Los Angeles 
valleys. 

One mile north of Orange is the raisin establishment 
of McPherson Brothers. In the center of this great en¬ 
terprise is the village of McPherson, a collection of homes, 
a town hall, and a store for the accommodation of those 
employed in the raisin business. 

One mile farther north is the beautiful Quaker vil¬ 
lage of— 

Earlham .—The Ouakers of the United States seem to 

0->m* 

be in great numbers looking toward Los Angeles County. 


SANTA ANA. 


179 

They now have comfortable, attractive meeting-houses at 
Pasadena, Whittier, and Earlham. 

Two and a half miles north of Orange is the Santiago 
Canon, one of the most beautiful, romantic recesses in 
the mountains that the convulsions of Nature have ever 
produced. 

The tourist can spend a week in this canon with pleas¬ 
ure and profit. The invalid can well spend months camp¬ 
ing under oaks and pines beside the musical stream that 
runs down this great gash in the face of the earth. 

Santa Ana .—Three miles from Orange and thirty-four 
miles from Los Angeles, it is ten miles from the ocean, 
and is the terminus of the San Diego branch of the South¬ 
ern Pacific Railroad. It is also on the Riverside branch 
of the California Central, and on the line of the California 
Central that connects Los Angeles and San Diego. 

The Santa Ana Valley, in which these three towns are 
situated, contains about five hundred square miles and is 
traversed by the Santa Ana River. The river furnishes 
the most of the water for irrigation, but the water for do¬ 
mestic purposes in Santa Ana is piped from artesian wells. 

Santa Ana is the chief town and county seat of Orange 
County. Population 1890, 3,705; increased to six thou¬ 
sand within the past five years. The main street is built 
up almost solidly with substantial structures. Tasteful 
residences, in beautiful orchards and gardens, extend for 
miles in every direction. There are gas, electric lights, 
waterworks, and street-car lines; three banks, a large 
opera house, a daily and several weekly newspapers, good 
hotels, ten churches, a well-equipped public library, and 
excellent schools under the management of an efficient 
superintendent and eighteen teachers. There are two 
foundries, a large planing mill, brickyards, and several 
smaller manufacturing enterprises. One of the largest 
lumber yards south of Los Angeles is located here. A 
Chamber of Commerce has been organized with a mem- 


i8o 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


bership of two hundred. A good opening exists for a 
cannery and fruit-dryer. There are several stables with 
hue racing stock near the city, and one of the best race 
tracks in the State is upon the Orange County Fair 
grounds adjacent to the city. 

Two lines of railroad connect Santa Ana with Los An¬ 
geles, one of which connects it also with San Diego. The 
segregation of the great San Joaquin ranch of one hun¬ 
dred thousand acres would give Santa Ana a great im¬ 
petus. 

Tustin is the gem of this valley. It is two miles south¬ 
east of Santa Ana, and is the center of a community noted 
for their culture and industry. Here are broad, shaded 
avenues, flanked by beautiful residences, surrounded by 
and containing all that wealth and intelligent taste could 
desire. 

Had Dr. Johnson described Tustin and the valley it is 
in, he would have pictured a much more attractive scene 
than the classic Happy \'alley wherein dwelt Rasselas, 
the Abyssinian prince. We read that in that Happy Val¬ 
ley the trees dropped ripe fruit in the lap of Mother Earth 
every month in the year. So it is in Tustin. In the winter 
there are the orange and the lemon; in the spring, the 
apricot, the peach, and the nectarine; in the summer, the 
apple, the pear, and the plum; and autumn brings the 
ripe, rich, purple clusters of grapes. There is one great 
difference in these valleys. 

Dr. Johnson says in the Abyssinian Valley the people 
wanted to get out but could not, while in the Tustin Val¬ 
ley they can get out but do not want to. 

The seaport nearest to these towns is Newport Har¬ 
bor ,which has become quite a local shipping point. There 
is a railroad from Santa Ana to this place. Laguna is 
one of several places on the ocean where people camp, 
in order to enjoy surf bathing. 


SAN JUAN-B Y-THE-SEA . 


181 


Sail Juan. 

Orange County, south of Santa Ana and Tustin, con¬ 
sists almost entirely of immense ranches, which are grad¬ 
ually being subdivided into small farms. Great bodies 
of land and railroads are incompatible. All intelligent 
railroad managers encourage small farming. The more 
farms the more freight and passengers, while a ranch of 
ten or fifteen square leagues means little revenue for rail¬ 
roads, no schools, no churches, and no hotels. The Cali¬ 
fornia Southern runs via Santa Ana to San Juan-by-the- 
Sea and San Diego. 

San Juan Capistrano (St. John the Beheaded) is the old 
Spanish town at the mission of the same name, which was 
founded in 1776. The building, completed thirty years 
later, was built of stone and cement, in a cruciform shape, 
with an immense dome, and was at the time of its com¬ 
pletion the finest church in California. In 1812 an earth¬ 
quake caused the top-heavy dome to fall in upon the as¬ 
sembled worshipers, and forty-four people were killed. 
Since that time, even to the present day, services are regu¬ 
larly held in a supplementary building. The mission was 
named in honor of the priest who, in the fifteenth century, 
headed the movement that caused the Turks to be driven 
out of Belgrade. 

The village of San Juan, together with the mission, 
is an interesting point to visit. Here are productive olive, 
orange, and fig orchards, while the palm, here and there, 
adds to the picturesqueness of the scenery. 

San Juan-by-thc-Sca is the musical name of a town site 
laid out on the seashore two and a half miles away on the 
line of the California Southern Railroad during the boom. 
The town failed to materialize, and the site was recently 
sold at a low acreage price. Fifty years ago Richard Dana 
visited this romantic point, and in his Two Years Before 
the Mast describes it as follows: 


182 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


“ San Juan is the only romantic spot in California. The coun¬ 
try here for several miles is a high table-land, running boldly to 
the shore, and breaking off in a steep hill, at the foot of which the 
waters of the Pacific are continually dashing. For several miles 
the water washes the very base of the hill, or breaks upon ledges 
or fragments of rocks which run out into the sea. Just where we 
landed was a small cove or ‘ bight,’ which gave us at high tide a 
landing place between the sea and the bottom of the hill. Directly 
above us was the perpendicular bluff nearly two hundred feet 
high. We strolled about, picking up shells and following the 
sea, where it tumbled in, roaring and spouting among the crevices 
of the great rocks. The rocks were as large as those of Nahant 
or Newport, but, to my eyes, more grand and broken. Besides, 
there was a grandeur in everything around, which gave almost 
a solemnity to the scene; a silence and solitariness which affected 
everything. Not a human being but ourselves, and no sound 
heard but the pulsation of the great Pacific, and the great steep 
hill rising like a wall and cutting us off from all the world but 
the ‘ world of waters ’! I separated myself from the rest, and sat 
down upon a rock, just where the sea ran in and formed a fine 
spouting horn.* Compared with the plain, dull, sand beach of 
the rest of the coast, this grandeur was as refreshing as a ‘ great 
rock in a weary land.’ My better nature was strong upon me. 
Everything was in accordance with my state of feeling, and I 
experienced a glow of pleasure at finding that what of poetry 
and romance I ever had in me had not been entirely deadened 
by the laborious and frittering life I had led. Nearly an hour 
did I sit lost in the luxury of this entire new scene of the play in 
which I had so long been acting. Rejoining the crew, we went 
to the top of the hill. Here the country stretched out for miles, 
as far as the eye could reach, on a level, table-like surface, and 
the only habitation in sight was the white mission buildings of 
San Juan Capistrano, distant about three miles, in a lovely vale. 
Standing on the edge of the hill, and looking down the perpen¬ 
dicular heights, the sailors 

“ . . . That walked upon the beach 

Appeared like mice, and our tall, anchoring bark 

* Tn memory of the above writer, this prominent headland on the 
west of San Juan is called Dana’s Point. 





MINERAL SPRINGS. 


183 


Diminished to her cock; her cock a buoy, 

Almost too small for sight.’ 

“ It was really a picturesque sight; the great height, and the 
continual walking to and fro of the men, who looked like mites 
on the beach.” 

The hot springs are in the mountains, twelve miles 
from San Juan. The territory of twenty-five miles of fer¬ 
tile soil between San Juan-by-the-Sea and Santa Ana will 
doubtless be the scene of great activity in the near future. 

This closes a glance at Los Angeles and Orange 
Counties. Many points have not been touched. There 
are coal mines in the vicinity of Santa Ana, silver mines 
in the vicinity of Orange, San Gabriel, and Lang’s 
Springs. There are bee ranches in all the mountain 
canons, producing honey that is sent all over the civil¬ 
ized world; there are asphaltum beds, petroleum wells, 
natural gas, and numerous other industries and resources 
that have scarcely been mentioned. Special articles on 
some of these subjects will give all information desired. 


Mineral Springs in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. 

SANTA FE SPRINGS (FULTON WELLS). 

These have been mentioned casually in the course of 
the description of the counties, but it is deemed best to 
mention them here separately. Probably the most fa¬ 
mous and the best known are the Santa Fe Springs, for¬ 
merly known as Fulton Wells. Here are several artesian 
wells, from which waters rich in medicinal virtues con¬ 
stantly flow. These waters are so near Los Angeles that 
many people from that city are constantly in attendance. 
There are numerous well-attested cases of remarkable 
cures. 

In one gallon of the water there is 2.20 grains bicar¬ 
bonate of soda, 12 grains bicarbonate of lime, 16.50 grains 
bicarbonate of magnesia, 13 grains bicarbonate of iron, 


CALIFORNIA OF FIIE SOUTH. 

90 grains sulphate of soda, 10.40 grains chloride of sodi¬ 
um, 30 grains silica, and a large percentage of iodine and 
potash. There is also quite a volume of sulphureted hy¬ 
drogen gas and carbonic gas. 

Cases of rheumatism, diabetes, eczema, psoriasis, acne, 
dyspepsia, and scofula are specially benefited by these 
waters. 

The distance from Tos Angeles is twelve miles by the 
California Central Railroad, while the nearest station on 
the Southern Pacific is Norwalk, two miles away. 


SAN JUAN SPRINGS. 

For many years the San Juan hot springs have been 
noted for curing rheumatism and syphilis. 

They are sixty-five miles from Los Angeles, and 
there has been no railroad or hotel near them, yet people 
in great numbers are constantly making pilgrimages to 
this far-away place. 

There is no hotel, but the patients have tents or cheap 
houses to live in during their treatment. 

Bulletin No. 32 of the United States Geological Sur¬ 
vey gives the following analysis * of the main spring at 
San Juan: 


Parts in 100,000. 


Sodium carbonate. 11.10 

Sodium sulphate. Trace. 

Sodium chloride. 10.53 

Potassa. Trace. 

Lime. “ 

Magnesia. “ 

Lithia. “ 

Silica. 7.66 

Tota 1 . 29.29 


* Oscar Loew, analyst, 1876. 













WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS. jgc 

Mud baths are considered very efficacious, and, as 
there are no permanent building's, these anxious seekers 
after health improvise mud bathing houses of a primitive 
type. There are over a dozen of these springs spread over 
an acre of ground, and another hot spring, known as 
McKnight’s,a half-mile away. There are also cold springs 
near by. 

The temperature of the hot springs is 135 0 Fahr. They 
are fourteen miles from San Juan-by-the-Sea. For the 
present, the best means to reach them is to San Juan-by- 
the-Sea by the California Central, and from there by team. 

lang’s springs, 

forty miles north of Los Angeles, at Lang Station, on 
the Southern Pacific Railroad, have attracted consider¬ 
able attention lately. 

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS. 

Southern California has quite a variety of medicinal 
springs, both cold and hot. Besides those of a fluid na¬ 
ture, there are many hot mud springs that are largely used 
in cases of acute rheumatism. Every county in Southern 
California has mineral springs of various kinds and util¬ 
ity. One of the most lovely and excellent groups of 
springs of a mineral character is the group of ten white 
sulphur springs at Lang, on the Southern Pacific Rail¬ 
road, forty-three miles north of Los Angeles. 

Lang is situated in the Soledad Canon, deep in the 
beautiful recesses of the Sierra Madre, the charming em¬ 
press of all mountain chains. The canon was named Sole- 
dad (solitary) long before the language of Milton and 
Shakespeare was spoken in its lonely wilds, when deer, 
lions, wolves, and bears made this their chosen home. 

This passage through the mountains resounds to the 
roar of fifty trains of cars per day of the Southern Pacific 


!g6 CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 

system, that wind through its echoing rocks with persons 
and property for all parts of the earth, and under the 
greenwood shade sits John Lang and the wife of his youth 
and old age, breathing the odors of myriads of flowers 
and trees gathered from all parts of the L T nited States. 

Owing to the angles of the canon no tempest sweeps 
through it, and, at an elevation of eighteen hundred feet 
above the sea, among grand gray rocks, no frost ever 
hurts the delicate plants and flowers. As the shadows 
of the mountains lengthen across the canon at the close 
of the day, the western gate of the rocky passage glows 
with amber and rose-color, while the eastern passage 
changes from blue to pale and fading emerald. The no¬ 
bility of the scenery is not wasted upon the inmates of 
Lang homestead. 

This clear, mild air, with its day breeze from the west 
and eastern breeze by night, and in a frostless region, is 
about as near perfection as can be found, and a genuine 
paradise for invalids, who come from far to this delightful 
spot to regain their vigor from the pure water of a moun¬ 
tain torrent, the exhilaration of almost constant sunshine 
tempered with breezes from the pines and cedars and fra¬ 
grant shrubs, with the crystal-white sulphur fountains 
gushing out of the grand old mountains for the purifica¬ 
tion of the human system, a diet of venison and other 
game, and home-cooked food in abundance. This com¬ 
bination of advantages, added to fine scenery and ram¬ 
bles in shady canons deep and wild, with frequent trains 
to the city and the sea, makes Lang Sulphur Springs in 
Los Angeles County the banner mountain resort for 
health, happiness, and comfort. 

Mr. Lang, who formerly experienced periods of sick¬ 
ness in other localities, has now lived twenty-five years 
at the springs without sickness of an hour’s duration. 

The quality and virtues of the water of Lang Springs 
has been examined by many, including chemists and 


SAN FERNANDO SULPHUR SPRING. 


187 


medical men. Among the recent physicians who have ex¬ 
amined and certified to the rare virtues of this water are 
Drs. Ellis, of London, England; Powers, of Texas; 
Sprague, of St. Louis; Fonda, of Albany, N. Y.; Bar¬ 
ton, of New York; Kirkpatrick, of Los Angeles; Mc¬ 
Farland, of Compton, Cal.; and Dr. Turner, of New 
Haven, Conn. The water is clear and cold, and contains 
sulphur, magnesia, and iron combined in most agreeable 
proportions. 

San Fernando Sulphur Spring, on the south side of 
San Fernando Mountain, a few miles from the town of 
San Fernando, has quite a local reputation in rheuma¬ 
tism and skin diseases. Bulletin No. 32, United States 
Geological Survey, gives the following analysis.* Ac¬ 
cording to the latest theory of curing consumption, these 
waters, containing carbonic-acid gas and sulphur, would 
be very efficacious in lung diseases: 


Sodium carbonate. 

Magnesium bicarbonate 
Calcium carbonate 

Sodium sulphate. 

Sodium chloride. 

Alumina. 

Silica. 

Phosphoric acid. 


Sulphohydric acid. 5.00 

Potassium. Trace. 

Lithium. “ 

Iron. “ 

Manganese. “ 

Organic matter. “ 


Parts in 100,000. 
.. 6.21 

.. 50.60- 

•. 23.87 
. . Trace. 

H 


Total. 

Carbonic acid gas 


...'85.68 
In excess. 


* Oscar Loew, analyst, 1876. 



















188 


CALIFORNIA OF TIIE SOUTH . 


Four miles south of San Fernando is El Cino Spring. 
Bulletin No. 32, United States Geological Survey, gives 
the following analysis * of its waters. This spring has a 
flow of eighty-seven gallons per hour: 

Parts in 100,000. 


Sodium carbonate.. .. 
Magnesium carbonate 
Calcium carbonate 

Sodium sulphate. 

Sodium chloride. 

Silica. 

Phosphoric acid. 

Sulphohydric acid . . . 

Potassium. 

Lithium. 


24.31 

32.17 

54-46 

2-93 

11.50 

Trace. 


H 


Total. 125-37 

Carbonic-acid gas. In excess. 


Helen Hunt Jackson and the Mission Indians. 

When Father Junipero Serra first arrived in South¬ 
ern California, May 14, 1769, he found about thirty thou¬ 
sand friendly, good-natured, intelligent Indians, divided 
into numerous tribes or bands, speaking thirteen dialects. 
They were after a few rebellions brought under the in¬ 
fluence of the Church, and numerous missions estab¬ 
lished. These missions were invariably located in the 
most fertile and well-watered spots; and, as we go from 
ruin to ruin of these missions to-day, we are astonished 
that, with so brief an acquaintance with the territory, the 
good padre should have selected so unerringly the very 
best lands. 

The Indians were soon all gathered around these mis¬ 
sions, and worked as faithfully and obediently for these 
Franciscan Fathers as though they had been slaves. They 
were taught to till the ground, make wine and oil, raise 


* Oscar Loew, analyst, 1876. 



















Ruins of Mission, San Juan Capistrano. 











































CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH . 


I90 

all kinds of grain, and to follow many trades; and the 
women were taught to sew, to make baskets and beauti¬ 
ful lace, and thus in each one of these missions would be 
found these natives employed in almost every industry 
of civilization. 

The Indians were very devoted to the Church, and 
probably the years they were under the complete control 
of these Franciscan Fathers were the happiest in their 
history. 

In 1834 the property of these missions was secularized 
by the Mexican Government, reserving to the Indians in 
indefinite terms what they would need for a home.* From 
this time on their condition became rapidly worse, and in 
1852 the late Hon. B. D. Wilson, an old resident of Los 
Angeles County, made a report to the United States Gov¬ 
ernment, showing the great injustice which had been 
done the Indians by the Americans. In 1881 Mrs. Helen 
Hunt Jackson had her attention specially directed toward 
these long-suffering people, and that winter she made a 
visit to their reservations and spent several weeks among 
them and in Los Angeles, getting facts in regard to their 
condition and needs. While in Los Angeles she received 
great aid in her work from the late Don Antonio F. Coro- 
nel and his talented wife. Mr. Coronel came to Los An¬ 
geles in 1834, and held various positions of honor while 
this city was under Mexican rule. 

After it became subject to the Government of the 
United States he was elected and re-elected county as¬ 
sessor. In 1853 he was elected Mayor of the city of Los 
Angeles. In 1867 he was elected treasurer of the State 
of California. He formerly lived at the corner of Seventh 
and Alameda Streets, in the adobe house so beautifully 
described by Mrs. Jackson;f Mr. Coronel's father taught 

* See Father Junipero and his Work, by Helen Hunt Jackson, p. 207, 
vol. iv, Century Magazine. 

f Echoes in the City of the Angels, p. 205, vol. v, Century Magazine. 



LOS ANGELES. 



A Mission Garden. 

a year ago, the oldest living teacher in the State of Cali¬ 
fornia. In this house we were showed the table on which 
Mrs. Jackson transcribed the notes for her series of arti- 


191 

the first school in Los Angeles, and Mr. Coronel him¬ 
self was at the time of his death, which occurred about 



















192 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


cles in the Century Magazine of 1883, as well as most 
of the data upon which she founded Ramona. It was a 
typical Mexican home, surrounded by wide verandas and 
tropical shrubbery. Like so many other interesting relics 
of olden times in Los Angeles, it has had to succumb to 



Hon. Antonio F. Coronel. 


the resistless march of modern improvements. Inside 
are many interesting curios. Sehora Coronel said recent¬ 
ly, with tears in her eyes, that she well remembered Mrs. 
Jackson sitting in this room, with her hands folded, look¬ 
ing up with intense earnestness to the picture of Father 












CAMULOS RANCH. 


19 3 


Junipero, and saying: “Ah! faithful, noble, dear old 
face; what an unselfish, devoted life you led! All I ask, 
is to be permitted to meet you in the other world.” Dur¬ 
ing her visits to Los Angeles she would every day drive 
from her hotel to this hospitable home. 

“ Near the western end of Don Antonio’s porch is an 
orange tree, on which were hanging at this time twenty- 
five hundred oranges, ripe and golden among the glossy 
leaves. Under this tree my carriage always waited for me. 
The senora never allowed me to depart without bringing 
to me in the carriage farewell gifts of flowers and fruit; 
clusters of grapes, dried and fresh; great boughs full of 
oranges, more than I could lift. As I drove away thus, 
my lap filled with bloom and golden fruit, canopies of 
golden fruit over my head, I said to myself often, ‘ Fables 
are prophecies. The Hesperides have come true.’ ” * 

The information that Mrs. Jackson received from the 
Coronels was so full and complete that she gives an ac¬ 
curate description of the Canmlos Ranch,f the home of 
Ramona, although she only spent two hours there. 

The following letter describes Mrs. Jackson’s only 
visit to this noted Spanish home: 

“Santa Barbara, Cal., January 3 o, 1882. 

“My Dear Friends, Mr. and Mrs. Coronel: ... I have now 
been one week in Santa Barbara, and am still homesick for Los 
Angeles. I have not as yet seen anything so fine as the San Ga¬ 
briel Valley, and San Bernardino Mountains with the snows on 
the tops, and I have not found any one to tell me the things of 
the olden time so eloquently as you did. 

“ I have seen Father Sanchez, Father O’Keefe, and Father 
Francis, at the mission, and have obtained from their library 
some books of interest. From the west window of my room I 
look out on the mission buildings. The sun rests on them from 
sunrise to sunset, and they seem to me to say more than any 

* Echoes in the City of the Angels, p. 205, vol. v, Century Magazine. 

f Ramona, p. 19. 

14 




194 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


human voice on record can convey. You will perhaps have heard 
that I was so unfortunate as not to find Mrs. Del Valle at home, 
so I only rested two hours at her house and drove on to Santa 
Barbara that night. I saw some of the curious old relics, but the 
greater part of them were locked up, and Mrs. Del Valle had the 
keys with her. 

“ The most interesting part of my journey was San Fernando. 
There I could spend a whole day, and I must tell you of a mistake 
I made; perhaps if you see Mr. Pico you can rectify it for me. 
He said to me, when he was showing me some of the relics they 
have, ‘ Now, if you like, you can take some one of these things.’ 
Of course I desired very much to have some of them; but I 
replied, merely out of the wish not to seem greedy or ungrate¬ 
ful: ‘ Oh, you are too kind to think of such a thing. I am afraid 
you ought not to give away any of them. Do you not rather pre¬ 
fer to keep them for the Church?’ And then he did not again 
offer them to me, and I was all the rest of the time waiting and 
hoping that he would; but I came away without having the op¬ 
portunity again to take anything. I suppose you will think I 
was very stupid. Indeed, I think so myself; but it is partly that 
I do not understand the customs of the Spanish people in regard 
to such things. 

“ If it should happen that you see any of the family, you can 
tell them of my regret for having made such a mistake, and that 
I would be very glad to have anything they would like to part 
with. One of the old candlesticks I would very much like to 
have, or one of the old books of St. Augustine I had in my own 
mind decided that I would choose. 

“ I also wanted very much to have a piece of one of the old 
olive trees if I could have found one that had blown down—a 
straight section of the trunk sawed across, about six inches thick, 
to make a round block, polished, to set my stone bowl on. The 
driver promised to take two of the old palm leaves to you to keep. 
I thought you would like one; the wind had strewed the ground 
with them. But I think it rained so hard the days he went back 
he did not stop to look for palm leaves. 

“ When I come again with the artist we will go to San Fer¬ 
nando. It is one of the places I desire to see twice. 

“ I send to you also by to-day’s mail a copy of my little volume 
of poems. I thought that you would like that volume better than 


MISSION INDIANS. 


195 

any other I have written. In a little more than four months I 
hope to see you again. 

“ Truly yours, and with many thanks for all your kindness, 

“ Helen Jackson.” 

Mrs. Jackson rapidly became enthusiastic in her work 
for the Mission - Indians, and succeeded in securing the 
appointment of herself and Abbot Kinney, Esq., of Los 
Angeles, as special agents of the United States Govern¬ 
ment to investigate the condition of the Mission Indians. 
The following copy of a letter from Mrs. Jackson to the 
Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Washington, lucidly out¬ 
lines the work she desired to perform: 

“To the Commissioner of Indian Affairs : 

“ Dear Sir: I thank you for the expressions of confidence in 
your letter of the —. I hope the results of my work may not dis¬ 
appoint you. I do not undertake the mission without misgivings; 
but I trust that my earnest intent in the matter will stand me in¬ 
stead of knowledge and experience, and I am sure that Mr. Kin¬ 
ney’s clearheadedness and familiarity with the region will be an 
invaluable assistance. 

“ Since the receipt of your letter, I have given the subject 
much thought, and will now outline to you what I understand to 
be the scope and intent of our investigations: 

“ 1. To ascertain the present number of Mission Indians, 
where they are living, and how. 

“ 2. What, if any. Government lands remain in Southern Cali¬ 
fornia which would be available for homes for them. 

“3. If there is no longer left enough Government land fit for 
the purpose, which I strongly suspect, what land or lands can be 
bought, and at what prices? 

“4. What the Indians’ own feelings are in regard to being 
moved onto reservations. 

“ So far as I can judge from what I saw and heard last winter, 
I believe that those Indians now living in villages would almost 
rather die than be removed. Yet, in many instances, the lands on 
which the villages stood have been already patented to white 
men, and I understand that, in such cases, there is no possible 
redress for the Indians. 


196 


CALIFORNIA OF TIIE SOUTH. 


“ Again, I am entirely sure that, to propose to those self-sup¬ 
porting farmers that they should be subjected to the ordinary 
reservation laws and restrictions, would be not only futile, but 
insulting. There is no more right or reason in an Indian agent, 
with the Indian agent’s usual authority, being set over them, than 
there would be in attempting to bring the white farmers in Ana¬ 
heim or Riverside under such authority. 

“ If this statement of what we are to do meets your views, will 
you kindly have it put into shape in form of a letter of specific 
instructions, such a letter as will give me full authorization under 
all circumstances, both with the Indians and at the land offices 
of the different counties? There should be also a separate let¬ 
ter, authorizing Mr. Kinney joining me in the work, and guar¬ 
anteeing his expenses. One item of expense has occurred to me 
since my letter to Mr. Teller, and that is of an interpreter. In 
visiting the Indian villages, we should be obliged to take an inter¬ 
preter with us. This should be provided for. My own expenses 
I will rate, as I told Mr. Teller, at twelve hundred dollars. This 
will cover my going out and returning. If it takes longer and 
costs more, I will defray the remainder myself. 

“ I would like these letters in duplicate, to guard against acci¬ 
dents.” 

Mrs. Jackson and Mr. Kinney made their report, and 
the following letter tells how it was received, and gives 
us a glimpse of her passionate fondness for Indian relics; 
but it also shows, which is of still greater interest, her 
method of getting material for Ramona, and proves that, 
in writing this story, she was actuated by a philanthropic 
impulse similar to that which impelled Harriet Beecher 
Stowe to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin. 

“ Colorado Springs, November 8, 1883. 

“ My Dear Friends, Mr. and Mrs. Coronel: I send you here¬ 
with the very bad picture of myself, which I think you will wish 
you had never seen. If you do, you are quite at liberty to burn 
it up. 

“ I had forgotten that I paid you the five dollars for the work 
done by the Indian woman. Keep it, if you please; there may 


MISSION INDIANS. 


I 9 7 


be something to come from Father Ubach to pay expressage 
on, or there may be a box to be made to hold all my stone mor¬ 
tars, etc., which Mr. Bliss is going to get for me one of these 
years. It may be well for you to have a little money of mine on 
hand to meet these possible charges. I have asked Father 
Ubach to send to me to your care the old looking-glass frame 
which I forgot to put into the box he sent here; it was really 
one of the things I cared most for of all the relics promised me, 
and I was exceedingly sorry he forgot it. He, however, did much 
to atone for this by putting into the box a piece of one of the old 
olive trees from the San Diego Mission. I shall present part of 
it to Archbishop Corrigan. I think he will value a piece of one 
of the fruit trees planted by Father Junipcro. I am sure you will 
have rejoiced at the removal of Lawson from the agency of the 
Mission Indians. I hope the new man will prove better; he 
hardly can prove worse. I wish we could have selected the new 
agent ourselves; but it was a political appointment, of which we 
knew nothing until it was all settled. Our report has been favor¬ 
ably received, and its recommendations will be incorporated in 
a bill before Congress this winter. I hope the bill will pass. But 
I know too much of Washington to be sanguine. However, if 
we had accomplished nothing more than the securing the ap¬ 
pointment of Brunson & Wells, Los Angeles, as United States 
attorneys, to protect the Indians’ rights to lands, that would be 
matter of gratitude. I suppose you have heard of that appoint¬ 
ment. I hope through their means to save the Saboba village, 
San Jacinto, from being turned out of their home. Now, I am as 
usual asking help. I will tell you what my next work for the In¬ 
dians is to be. I am going to try to write a novel, in which will 
be set forth some Indian experiences in a way to move people’s 
hearts. People will read a novel when they will not read serious 
books. The scenes of the novel will be in Southern California, 
and I shall introduce enough of Mexicans and Americans to give 
it variety. The thing I want most, in way of help, from you, is 
this: I would like an account, written in as much detail as you 
remember, of the time when you, dear Mr. Coronel, went to Te¬ 
mecula and marked off the boundaries of the Indians’ land there. 
How many Indians were living' there then? What crops had 
they? Had they a chapel? etc. Was Pablo Assis, their chief, 
alive? I would like to know his whole history, life, death, and all, 


198 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SO UTIL 


minutely. The Temecula ejectment will be one of the episodes 
in my story, and any and every detail in connection with it will 
be of value to me. I shall also use the San Pasquale Pueblo His¬ 
tory, and I have written to Father Ubach and to Mr. Morse, of 
San Diego, for their reminiscence. You and they are the only 
persons to whom I have spoken of my purpose of writing the 
novel, and I do not wish anything said about it. I shall keep 
it a secret until the book is about done. 

“ I hope very much that I can succeed in writing a story which 
will help to increase the interest already so much aroused at the 
East in the Indian question. 

“ If you think of any romantic incidents, either Mexican or 
Indian, which you think would work in well into a story of South¬ 
ern California life, please write them out for me. I wish I had 
had this plan in my mind last year when I was in Los Angeles. 
I would have taken notes of many interesting things you told me. 
But it is only recently, since writing out for our report the full 
accounts of the different bands of Indians there, that I have felt 
that I dared undertake the writing of a long story. 

“ I am going to New York in a few days, and shall be busily 
at work there all winter on my story. My address will be, ‘ The 
Berkeley/ corner Fifth Avenue and Ninth Street. 

“ I hope you are all well, and enjoying the same sunshine as 
last year. Mr. Jackson is well, and would send his regards if he 
were at home. Yours, always cordially, 

“ Helen Jackson.” 

Charles Dudley Warner, in a letter some years ago 
written from Los Angeles to the Critic, says: . . It 

was my good fortune to see Mrs. Jackson frequently in 
New York, when she was writing Ramona, which was 
begun and perhaps finished at ‘ The Berkeley/ 

“ The theme had complete possession of her; chapter 
after chapter flowed from her pen as easily as one would 
write a letter to a friend. . . . When she became inter¬ 
ested in the Indians, and especially in the hard fate of the 
Mission Indians in California, all her nature was fused 
for the time in a lofty enthusiasm of pity and indignation, 


MISSION INDIANS. 


1 99 


and all her powers seemed to be consecrated to one pur¬ 
pose. ... I am certain that she could have had no idea 
what the novel would be to the people of Southern Cali¬ 
fornia, or how it would identify her name with all this 
region, and make so many scenes in it places of pilgrim¬ 
age and romantic interest for her sake.” 

Every reader of Ramona remembers the birth, chris¬ 
tening, and death of “ Blue-Eyes,” and the following let¬ 
ter will show how Mrs. Jackson tried to get an Indian 
synonym for this name, but her efforts were in vain: 

“New York, February 13, 1884. 

“ Dear Mr. and Mrs. Coronel: I am glad you gave me my 
choice of the pictures; for the two I have taken I like, and the 
other two I think very bad. Mr. Sandham can have them. I 
have taken the two which show the side-view of your faces. 

“ I hope you are having better weather in Los Angeles than 
we have here. For three weeks we have scarcely seen the sun. 
Snows, rain, fogs, sleet, ice, have.been our daily diet. It is far 
the worst winter I ever saw. 

“ Mr Jackson returned to Colorado last month. I look for 
him here again in March. 

“ I am still at work on my story. It is more than half done. 

“ I wish you would ask those Indian women, who made the 
lace for me, what would be in their Pala or San Luis Rey dialect, 
the words for blue-eyes. I want to have a little child called by 
that name in my story—if the Indian name is not too harsh to 
the ear. I often wish myself in Los Angeles, I assure you, in 
this horrible weather. Did you receive the copy of our report on 
the Mission Indians? I ordered it sent to you. 

“ With many thanks for the pictures, and warm remembrances 
to you both and to Miss Mercedes, 

“ I am always, yours truly, 

“ Helen Jackson.” 

The following letter is the beginning of the end. Mrs. 
Jackson never recovered from the accident here re¬ 
counted. 



Camulos Ranch 

















































































MISSION INDIANS. 


201 


Mrs. Jackson in this letter also pronounces for Cleve¬ 
land and Hendricks and the Democratic party, although 
she had received her appointment and allowance for ex¬ 
penses from a Republican administration, and speaks of 
Senator Dawes as the Indian’s friend: 

“Colorado Springs, September 4, 1884. 

“ My Dear Friends: I am sorry to tell you that the bad news 
you heard of me was true. On the 28th of June I fell from the top 
to the bottom of my stairs, and broke my left leg—a very bad 
break; the large bone crushed in for about two inches, and the 
small bone snapped short. When they found me the leg was 
doubled at right angles between the knee and ankle. Mr. Jackson 
thought when he saw it I would never walk again; but, on the 
contrary, I am going to have as good a leg as ever. A great tri¬ 
umph for a woman of my age and weight. I am on crutches now, 
and very bad work I make with them, I assure you. I am too 
heavy and too much afraid. But I have a wheeled chair, in which 
I can go all about the house, and on the veranda, and I have had 
an exceedingly comfortable and pleasant summer in spite of the 
broken leg, and by New Year’s the doctor thinks I will be walk¬ 
ing well. 

“ The message from the Rincon Indians made my heart ache. 
I shall send it to the Indian Commissioner at Washington; but, 
as you say, we can not hope for much result from it. The firm of 
Brunson & Wells, lawyers in Los Angeles, were appointed last 
year, by our request, as United States attorneys, to act in all cases 
relating to Indian lands. It is a long time since I have heard 
from them. When I last heard, they hoped to save the Saboba 
lands for those Indians. It might be well for you to see them, 
and lay the case of these Rincon Indians before them. Say to 
Mr. Wells that I asked you to do so. You know that the time 
of the presidential election is now near, and at such times no man 
cares for anything but politics. If Blaine and Logan are elected, 
I shall fear a sad four years for the Indians. Logan is an Indian- 
hater. I do not know what the Democratic party would be on 
the Indian question. It could not he worse than the other, and 
it might be better. The only message you can give to those In¬ 
dians from me, is that I have sent a copy of their message to 


202 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


Washington, and that is all I can do. That my heart aches for 
them, and has never ceased to ache since the day I was in their 
village. That many good people are interested for their race, and 
are trying to accomplish something for their help; blit the men 
in power in the Government change so often, it is hard to get 
anything done. And Congress (the great Council) will not give 
the money we ask for. If they could once be made to understand 
that everything depends on Congress voting the money for their 
relief, they would realize more that the officers of the Govern¬ 
ment are powerless to keep their promises. There are Indians 
starving to-day in Montana, because Congress last winter cut 
down the appropriations which the Indian Commissioner asked 
for for the year. You see when that is done, the Secretary of the 
Interior and the Indian Commissioner are utterly helpless. They 
have no way of getting money except by Congress voting it. I 
sometimes wonder that the Lord does not rain fire and brim¬ 
stone on this land, to punish us for our cruelty to these unfor¬ 
tunate Indians. 

“ Another Commission is coming out to California this au¬ 
tumn to look after the Round Valley Indians. One member of it 
is Senator Dawes, who is a good friend to Indians. I have begged 
him to go down also into Southern California and see the Mission 
Indians. If he does, he will call on you. I have given him a letter 
to you. I never received the portraits of Father Junipero you 
speak of having sent me. Did you send them to this place, or 
to New York? 

“ Mr. Jackson is very well, and would desire his remembrances 
to you both if he were at home. But he is in Denver at present. 
With many thanks for your letter, and warm regards to you both, 
also to your niece, I am always, truly yours, 

“Helen Jackson.” 

Mrs. Helen Hunt Jackson is dead, but her work goes 
vigorously on. 

As a result of her efforts, a law was passed providing 
for a division of the reservation lands among these In¬ 
dians, so that each one would have in his individual right 
one hundred and sixty acres, not subject to liens, mort¬ 
gages, or debts of any nature for twenty-five years. There 


MISSION INDIANS. 


203 


are in this law various other important points. In June, 
1887, an agent from Washington and several members 
of the Indian Rights Association from Los Angeles and 
Pasadena had a great conference with the Indian chiefs, 
or captains, as they are now called, at the celebrated Pala 
Mission, to explain the provisions of this bill. These phi¬ 
lanthropists went to Temecula, one hundred and three 
miles from Los Angeles, by the California Central Rail¬ 
road, and from this historic point went with teams over 
an interesting mountain road to the Pala Mission, twelve 
miles away. 

This mission is situated in a fertile valley, surrounded 
by a stupendous wall of mountains. Only a small portion 
of the valley now belongs to the Indians. Even the old 
mission itself has passed into the possession of others. 
Here, where but a few years ago were Indians following 
almost every honorable industrial avocation, under the 
benignant rule of the Franciscan Fathers, all is now si¬ 
lence, ruin, and desolation. 

But, while the mission and its immediate surroundings 
are thus neglected, there are around it several fruit and 
grain ranches in a high state of cultivation. At the date 
of this conference the apricots and peaches were just ripe, 
and the orchards were radiant with luscious fruit, that 
bent many of the boughs almost to the ground. Early on 
the morning of the conference the Indian chiefs began 
coming in from the various reservations; the majority on 
horseback, others in spring wagons, but all well dressed 
in the American style. There were captains and generals, 
quite a number of whom spoke English, Spanish, and 
three or four Indian dialects fluently. 

There were among them several who might have been 
Allessandros but no Ramonas. The agent mounted a 
step of the old mission, and the Indians gathered anx¬ 
iously around. Each one had hat in hand, and they all 
stood there in the hot sun, with bared heads, watching the 


204 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


agent closely as he spoke, and then listening attentively 
to the Hon. A. F. Coronel, of Los Angeles, as he inter¬ 
preted the agent’s remarks. There were in this audience 
some noble faces, to whom the term “ noble red man 
could be fittingly applied. 

One noticeable feature was their serious earnestness. 
They all remembered Mrs. Jackson, who made prolonged 
visits among them, and when the agent told them that 
he had promised Mrs. Jackson on her deathbed that he 
would go on with her work, they were visibly affected. 
Mrs. Jackson’s name is familiar to almost every human 
being in Southern California, from the little three-year- 
old tot, who has her choice juvenile stories read to him, 
to the aged grandmother who shed tears of sympathy for 
Ramona. 

At about the same time the Indians of the Pala Mis¬ 
sion in San Diego County, one hundred miles south of 
Los Angeles, were talking of Mrs. Jackson’s work and 
death, there was in progress the annual fiesta of the Del 
Valle family at Camulos, their beautiful ranch home, 
forty-five miles north of Los Angeles, in Ventura County. 

Camulos is probably the only typical Spanish ranch 
now remaining in Southern California, and was wisely 
selected by Mrs. Jackson as the home of Ramona. Her 
description of this place is delightful reading, and pre¬ 
pares the visitor to some extent for the treat in store for 
him. The large, picturesque, adobe house is encircled by 
immense vineyards, miles of tall and shapely olive trees, 
and beautiful orange groves, with their bright-green foli¬ 
age, half covering their golden treasures. 

Mrs. Del Valle, stately and entertaining, is surrounded 
by a retinue of servants so large that, to care for them, 
she requires all the appurtenances of a village. 

Here is the school for her servants’ children, the store¬ 
house where all supplies are doled out, the beautiful lit¬ 
tle chapel in the garden where she has daily prayers, and 


MISSION INDIANS. 


205 

the post office through which their correspondence is sent 
and received. 

Here is the primitive mill for crushing the olives to 
make the oil, the wine-press making the healthful claret 
for which the place is noted, the still where grape brandy 
is manufactured, the long cellars in which the wine and 
brandy are stored, the warehouses in which are housed 
enough grain and bacon to withstand years of famine, 
and the extensive stables where are dozens of horses. 

The annual fiesta is a gathering of the Del Valle family 
and a few invited guests that takes place in July, and 
lasts four days. The train from Los Angeles arrived about 
noon of the first day with twenty-five of the family and 
friends. Sehora Del Valle stood at the entrance to the 
garden and welcomed each guest. The visitors were 
quickly conducted to their rooms, where water, comb, 
and brush soon removed all trace of the midsummer car 
ride. Dinner was then announced, and Senator Reginald 
F. Del Valle, a prominent Los Angeles attorney, sat at the 
head of the table, which was under a shady arbor in the 
garden but a few steps from the chapel. Two barbecued 
pigs, done to perfection, formed the principal meat of 
this meal, but there were olives, cooked and pickled, vari¬ 
ous Spanish dishes, containing almost invariably chilis 
(red peppers) and olives, delicious dessert, claret and 
white wines ad libitum , and the regulation black coffee. 
Surrounding this table were members of numerous dis¬ 
tinguished Spanish-American families. The two features 
that attracted the particular attention of an American 
were the gallantry of the men and the beauty and vivacity 
of the ladies. 

The afternoon was spent by the guests hunting, rid¬ 
ing, singing, reading, talking, and mountain climbing, 
just as each one chose. In this way of entertaining, and 
yet giving each visitor perfect freedom to do just as he 
pleased, the hostess and her daughters displayed rare tact. 


206 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH 


Watermelons and fruits of various kinds were always at 
hand. 

At 7 P. M. another bountiful meal was served in the 
arbor, which was brilliantly lighted by lanterns fastened 
between the innumerable clusters of purple grapes that 
hung overhead. This time two roasted kids were served 
—and delicious they were. After an hour’s walk, all gath¬ 
ered in the spacious parlor, and, with music on the piano, 
the organ, and the guitar, and vocal solos and choruses, 
time quickly sped. Fireworks in the garden closed the 
entertainment for the first day. 

The next morning all were out bright and happy, and 
at breakfast, where everything was served with the usual 
profusion, the American would notice that olives were 
again eaten by all, which leads to a reflection in regard 
to the value of this ancient food. 

“ It took the English colony of India a century to find out 
that the strong meat diet of the north used in the climate of India 
invariably produced a diseased liver and death. Now that they, 
learning by experience, are adopting the light vegetable diet of 
the natives, they endure the climate much better. 

“ The oil, which in southern latitudes has most generally taken 
the place of the animal fats, is the oil of the olive. It is lighter 
and less heat-producing than the oils or fats of animal origin. It 
is used in cookery, is an ingredient of every salad, and in the shape 
of the pickled fruit takes somewhat the place of meat upon the 
table. Its high nutritive value is shown by the fact that the labor¬ 
ers of the Riviera perform the severest toil upon a diet chiefly of 
black bread and olives. 

“ One who has never personally tested the olive as an article 
of food can hardly understand its value. The writer has frequent¬ 
ly, for days at a time in the warm weather, almost lived upon 
bread and olives, feeling as well nourished as upon a meat diet. 

“ The culture of the olive seems to be almost coeval with the 
races of the Orient. Under the shade of its fruit-ladened branches 
rested the patriarchs in the old tent of Syria. It accompanied 
the Greco-Latin in his migration along the shores of the Medi- 


MISSION INDIANS. 


20 7 


terranean. It passed with the Roman arms to Gaul and Hispania, 
and crossing the ocean with the Conquistadors, adds its pale- 
green foliage to the verdure of every old mission orchard from 
Vera Cruz to Monterey. 

“ It is no chance, no mere sentiment that thus made it, like 
the vine and the corn-producing plants, the companion of race 
migration. 

“ Whenever we find a plant thus accompanying man for thou¬ 
sands of years in his migrations across oceans and continents, it 
is because of the positive utility of food value which it is proved 
to possess for the human race. 

“ Somewhat of the extent to which that economic food value 
is estimated by one nation may be surmised from the fact that in 
Italy the number of olive trees under cultivation is one hundred 
millions, covering one million acres. 

“ It is a safe rule to follow, that the foods which a people have 
adopted after inhabiting for generations any especial belt of cli¬ 
mate, are the foods best suited to the requirements of the system 
in that climate; that back of it is the working of some general 
law.” * 

After breakfast an hour was spent by the good host¬ 
ess and her Catholic guests in the chapel. 

A fat, young steer was then lassoed by a vacqucro , the 
aorta was dexterously severed with a knife, and then 
began some dissecting that would have surprised the 
most skillful anatomist. The skin was quickly and neatly 
taken off and spread out to protect the beef from the earth, 
the muscles were then, layer after layer, deftly removed, 
and in an incredibly short time this Mexican butcher had 
the meat ready for the fire. 

A fire in a pit near by had been heating stones, which 
were now red-hot. Iron rods were laid across the pit, and 
the whole beef put on to roast for dinner. 

The noon train from Los Angeles added materially to 


* The Anglo-Teuton and the Olive, by J. P. Widney, A. M., M. D. 
(See p. 82, Southern California Practitioner, March, 1886.) 



208 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


the number of guests, and seventy-five as happy people 
as ever lived sat around the heavily-laden table under the 
grapevines. What a delicious meal that was! The eat¬ 
ing was happily interspersed with laughter, conversation, 
and brilliant repartee. 

After the dessert had been enjoyed toasts were in 
order, and among those to the Del Valle family, the State 
of Southern California, etc., a gray-headed Mexican gen¬ 
tleman, after delivering a fervid, eloquent eulogy, pro¬ 
posed a toast to the memory of Mrs. Helen Hunt Jack- 
son, which was drank standing. How true the statement 
made on another page: “Mrs. Jackson is dead, but her 
work still lives in the hearts of the people of Southern 
California.” 


SAN DIEGO COUNTY. 

San Diego County comprises the extreme southwest 
corner of the United States, and extends from the Pacific 
Ocean eastward to the Colorado River. It has an area of 
eight thousand four hundred square miles—three hun¬ 
dred and sixty more than the State of Massachusetts, and 
five hundred and seventeen square miles more than the 
States of Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Delaware com¬ 
bined. It has seventy-five miles of seacoast. Between 
the coast and the mountains, a strip of country from thirty 
to forty miles wide, the ascent is gradual and varied with 
fertile and picturesque valleys, slopes, and mesas. From 
the summit of these mountains, which culminate in a 
peak about six thousand feet above sea level, the land 
falls rapidly away into the desert and finds its lowest point 
in a depression two hundred and fifty or three hundred 
feet below the level of the sea. 

This great territory is bounded on the west by the Pa¬ 
cific Ocean, on the south by Mexico, on the east by the 
Colorado River, and on the north by Riverside County. 

San Diego County first became noted on account of 


SAN DIEGO . 


209 


the beautiful bay of that name, a land-locked harbor of 
inestimable value as an inlet and outlet to a vast interior 
country. This bay was discovered in 1542 by Juan Rodri¬ 
guez Cabrillo, a Portuguese navigator in the employment 
of Spain. Sebastian Vizcaino surveyed and named it in 
1602. Professor George Davidson, of the United States 
Coast Survey, says: “ Next to that of San Francisco, no 
harbor on the Pacific coast of the United States approxi¬ 
mates in excellence the bay of San Diego.” 

As the visitor comes into this beautiful sheet of water 
by sea from the north, he passes around a rugged prom¬ 
ontory known as Point Loma, on which is located the 
United States Lighthouse. To the south is the point of 
the peninsula now known as Coronado Beach, and in 
front is this placid resting place for the storm-tossed ves¬ 
sel. “ What a beautiful sight! ” is the exclamation that 
involuntarily springs to the lips. 

This bay is about twelve miles long and one mile wide. 
If the visitor comes into the harbor by night, as many do 
who have first visited San Francisco and Los Angeles, 
he will be dazzled by the innumerable lights on Coronado 
Beach, and by the numerous electric lights from San 
Diego city, all giving a premonition of the commercial 
metropolis he is about entering. 

Coronado Beach is the name of the peninsula that juts 
out in front of San Diego and National City, and gives 
them their excellent harbor and especially salubrious cli¬ 
mate. This peninsula was purchased by a company, 
with E. S. Babcock as president. They have already 
erected there the largest hotel in Southern California, 
and have sold millions of dollars worth of lots. To-day 
this peninsula is the site of one of the liveliest, prettiest 
towns to be seen in California. Ten years ago a barren 
waste; to-day a prosperous town with hundreds of pretty 
cottages, with beautiful shrubbery and flower gardens, 
attractive parks, and delightful drives. 


\ 


210 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


There are now on Coronado Beach several stores, sev¬ 
eral fine churches, and a good schoolhouse. Coronado 
is twelve miles long and varies in width from a few yards 
at the isthmus to two miles, where the town and hotel 
are located. From the ferry a ride on the upper deck of 
a two-story electric car carries the tourist through ave¬ 
nues of palms and magnolias to Ffotel del Coronado. This 
hotel contains nearly eight hundred rooms, and covers 
more space than any other hostelry in the world, the 
amount of grounds on which it stands being about four 
and a half acres. It is built in what is called the old mis¬ 
sion or Spanish style, forming a quadrangle around an 
interior court or patio. This court is beautiful with foun¬ 
tains playing, climbing vines, the bright-red hibiscus, the 
royal date palms, and many varieties of flowering shrubs 
and plants. The hotel is surrounded by one hundred 
acres of gardens and lawns, and there are no signs of 
“ Keep off the grass,” “Don’t pick the flowers,” or “Look 
out for the dogs.” The hotel was opened in 1888, and has 
since entertained over three hundred and fifty thousand 
guests. 

While the winter climate of Coronado is delightful, 
the summer is most remarkable, as is indicated by the fol¬ 
lowing table: 

Comparative Maximum Temperature daring July and the Jirst 
Fifteen Days of August, 1895, in Boston, Baltimore, and 
Atlantic City upon the Atlantic Coast and Coronado and 
Los Angeles 071 the Pacific Coast. 



Boston. 

Baltimore. 

Atlantic 

City. 

Coronado. 

Los 

Angeles. 

July 1 . 

73 

73 

73 

69 

77 

“ 2. 

72 

77 

73 

68 

75 

“ 3. 

77 

80 

74 

70 

73 

“ 4. 

7i 

76 

77 

67 

75 

“ 5. 

73 

7i 

68 

67 

82 

“ 6. 

74 

83 

7i 

68 

85 

























CORONADO. 


21 I 



Boston. 

Baltimore. 

Atlantic 

City. 

Coronado. 

Los 

Angeles. 

July 7 . 

83 

86 

76 

68 

84 

“ 8. 

85 

83 

77 

67 

78 

“ 9 . 

78 

90 

74 

67 

77 

“ IO. 

75 

75 

88 

67 

75 

“ ii. 

68 

69 

75 

66 

74 

“ 12. 

78 

78 

70 

65 

76 

“ 13 . 

72 

82 

72 

66 

80 

“ 14 . 

7 i 

76 

73 

7 i 

82 

“ 15 . 

69 

74 

77 

75 

83 

“ 16. 

69 

82 

73 

7 i 

81 

“ 17. 

66 

90 

74 

69 

81 

“ 18. 

82 

9 2 

77 

72 

82 

“ 19. 

82 

85 

85 

75 

79 

“ 20. 

80 

93 

75 

65 

75 

“ 21. 

82 

95 

78 

66 

74 

“ 22. 

83 

88 

81 

67 

77 

“ 23. 

82 

86 

88 

66 

78 

“ 24. 

82 

78 

84 

69 

83 

“ 25. 

81 

83 

75 

70 

82 

“ 26. 

80 

85 

75 

7 i 

79 

“ 27. 

79 

87 

77 

7 i 

78 

“ 28. 

77 

78 

76 

70 

77 

“ 29. 

80 

82 

79 

7 i 

78 

“ 30. 

79 

81 

75 

70 

80 

“ 31. 

72 

74 

74 

67 

81 

Mean. 

77 + 

81 + 

76 + 

68 + 

78 + 

August 1. 

7 i 

75 

72 

73 

83 

“ 2. 

73 

79 

- 75 

70 

83 

“ 3 . 

79 

84 

78 

7 i 

79 

“ 4 . 

82 

88 

78 

68 

85 

“ 5 . 

86 

87 

75 

70 

84 

“ 6. 

89 

86 

76 

72 

83 

“ 7 . 

So 

89 

76 

7 i 

83 

“ 8. 

84 

9 1 

76 

70 

79 

“ 9 . 

84 

94 

81 

70 

80 

“ 10. 

86 

96 

79 

69 

78 

“ 11. 

79 

95 

84 

69 

76 

“ 12. 

73 

9 i 

84 

70 

78 

“ 13. 

73 

89 

80 

69 

83 

14 14 . 

79 

87 

85 

74 

82 

“ 15 . 

82 

87 

85 

7 i 

88 

Total sum. 

1,200 

1,318 

1,184 

1,057 

1,224 

Mean. 

80 

87 + 

79 + 

70 + 

81 + 













































































212 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


The above table shows that during the month of July, 
1895, the mean maximum temperature of Boston was 
77 0 , of Atlantic City 76°, of Los Angeles 78°, and of Balti¬ 
more 8i°, while the mean maximum temperature during 
the same month at Hotel del Coronado was only 68°. 
During the first fifteen days of August the maximum 
temperature of Baltimore was 87°, of Los Angeles 81 °, 
of Boston 8o°, and of Atlantic City 79 0 , while of Coronado 
during the same time it was only 70°. As is stated on a 
previous page of this work, the annual mean temperature 
of a locality is practically of no value as a guide to climatic 
conditions, but the mean maximum temperature is quite 
a different proposition, and is a very graphic indicator of 
the real comforts or discomforts of the climatic conditions. 

The nights of Coronado are dry and pleasant. Per¬ 
sons can be out of doors with impunity at all hours. This 
is due to the fact that there is invariably a night breeze 
from the Colorado Desert. This climate has proved par¬ 
ticularly efficacious in the relief of throat, bronchial, and 
nervous difficulties. Mr. Babcock, the proprietor of this 
great hotel, came here himself a condemned consump¬ 
tive in 1884. He is now the picture of health and activity. 

National City is near the head of San Diego Bay, at 
the terminus of the Southern California Railroad. 

It is four miles from the business center of the city of 
San Diego, with which it is connected by a steam-motor 
street railway and by the California Southern Railroad. 
In fact, National City can be said to be a part of San 
Diego, because it is almost a continuous town from one 
place to the other. Here are located the car shops of the 
railroad, a carriage factory, and an olive-oil factory. 

Right here the value of this olive oil should be im¬ 
pressed on the reader. Consumptives frequently find it 
far more beneficial than cod-liver oil; it is also a choice 
article for the table. There are but a few brands of olive 
oil on the market in the United States that should be used 



Hctel del Coronado, Coronado Beach, with a glimpse of San Diego Bay. 










































































214 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


on the table or as a medicine. One is that made by El- 
wood Cooper, of Santa Barbara; the other, by Kimball, 
of National City. The writer of these lines knows the 
importance of this statement, and has tested and satisfied 
himself of the universal adulteration of imported oils. Not 
being adulterated, the olive oil of Santa Barbara and Na¬ 
tional City is more expensive than the imported, the cost 
being from one dollar to one dollar and a half per bottle. 

At National City, as at San Diego, the ship comes 
alongside the railroad track. There is a weekly news¬ 
paper, a bank, and the usual number of stores and 
churches for a town of twelve hundred inhabitants. Na¬ 
tional City is noted for its oranges, lemons, apples, and 
pears. 

Chula Vista is a two-thousand-acre tract of land laid 
out in five-acre lots with water from the Sweetwater Sys¬ 
tem. This land is especially devoted to lemon culture. 
There is one orchard of six hundred acres and numerous 
five-acre orchards. The lemon is proving the most prof¬ 
itable of any fruit crop in this section. At Chula Vista 
they make seven gatherings per annum, extending over 
the whole year, thus producing a continuous income with¬ 
out the necessity of hurrying the crop to market at any 
one time of the year. One orchard of fifteen acres belong¬ 
ing to J. M. Cook, the trees of which are five years old, 
produced in one year four thousand boxes of Lisbon and 
Villa Franca lemons, realizing an average of two dollars 
per box, although some of the finest specimens brought 
six dollars per box. It is predicted by some who are well 
informed that the lemon industry will be the most profit¬ 
able of any of the horticultural enterprises. 

The San Diego Land and Town Company built a 
great dam in the mountains, six miles east of National 
City, to divert the waters of the Sweetwater River so that 
they may be used for irrigating purposes. This dam is 
of solid masonry, and is made of huge rocks quarried on 


SAN DIEGO. 


215 


the spot. It is forty feet thick at its base and three hun¬ 
dred feet long at the top. The dam closes the mouth of 
Sweetwater Canon and makes a reservoir that has a ca¬ 
pacity of six billion gallons, sufficient to irrigate fifty thou¬ 
sand acres of land. The motor line that passes through 
National City extends southward through a beautiful 
country almost to the Mexican line. 


City of San Diego. 

This is the charming city of San Diego County. Situ¬ 
ated on one of the most perfect harbors in the world, with 
vessels unloading at its wharves from all the chief ports of 
civilization, the culmination of the Santa Fe Railway sys¬ 
tem that brings it into intimate relations with Chicago, 
New York, and Boston; planted on a series of hills that 
gently slope to the ocean ; with a soil that produces al¬ 
most everything desirable from a pumpkin to an olive; 
with business blocks which for elegance, solidity, and size 
are rarely surpassed; with a climate that is enjoyable 
and healthful both summer and winter; with every facil¬ 
ity for boating, fishing, and hunting; with a population 
noted for culture and refinement; with schools, churches, 
and hotels that would be creditable to much larger cities; 
with commercial prospects of dazzling brilliancy—with all 
these attributes the visitor does not wonder when he finds 
that every one of San Diego’s twenty thousand inhab¬ 
itants, from the infant just beginning to prattle to the 
great-grandmother who dozes away the sunny Christmas 
day in her armchair on the veranda, has learned to sing 
her praises loud and long. It was here that Father Fran¬ 
cis Junipero Serra founded, on the 16th day of July, 
1769, the first of the series of missions that he established 
in California. 

The visitor should have a view of the old ruins of this 
most ancient of California missions. They are on Presidio 


216 


CALIFORNIA OF TIIE SOUTH. 


Hill, at “ Old San Diego,” a romantic spot, with its adobe 
buildings, palm trees, and orange groves. 

Five years after the mission was founded here the lo¬ 
cation was changed to a point about six miles up the San 
Diego River in a very fertile valley. The ruins of these 
later buildings are well worth a visit. A drive from San 
Diego to the Presidio Hill and Old San Diego, then up 
the valley to the mission, and then to San Diego across 
the country, is full of delightful surprises. 

San Diego was much involved in the war with Mexico. 
Among the several generals who were in San Diego dur¬ 
ing 1846 was General Emory, who reported that “ the 
harbor of San Francisco has more water, but that of San 
Diego has a more uniform climate, better anchorage, and 
perfect security from winds in any direction.” 

In 1850 the population of San Diego was six hundred 
and fifty. The first newspaper—the Herald—made its 
debut under the management of J. Judson Ames, May 29, 
1851. It lived eight years, and then from 1859 to 1868 
San Diego was without an organ. The San Diego Union 
then appeared to voice the-advantages of the land-locked 
harbor and the blissful climate. 

In 1867 A. E. Horton bought nine hundred acres 
where San Diego now is, and laid it off in lots and began 
to boom the place. Mr. Horton is popularly called the 
father of San Diego. What a typical Western history he 
could give! How, when Scott promised to build a rail¬ 
road to San Diego, his property became of great value; 
then Scott disappointed them and property went away 
down, so that Horton had to sacrifice block after block 
of his property, and he was looked upon as a poor, vi¬ 
sionary old man. But again out of the rifted clouds the sun 
shone forth upon San Diego, and the Santa Fe Company 
came to San Diego with their railroad, and now Mr. Hor¬ 
ton, although somewhat advanced in years, has again 
become rich, and the shrill whistle of the locomotive is 


SAN DIEGO. 


217 


music to his ears. Well may he feel rejoiced as he sits in 
his hillside home that overlooks city, bay, and Coronado 
Beach, and watches the city of his faith growing to such 
astonishing proportions. 

The increase in values here was remarkable, and people 
became wealthy so suddenly that some of them became 
dizzy. Some amusing stories are told of men who made 
fortunes in this rapid manner. One man had it announced 
in a daily paper: “ We are glad to learn that Mr. Smith- 
son, one of our most enterprising citizens, has exempli¬ 
fied his usual free-handed generosity by presenting his 
wife with a magnificent thirty-five-dollar set of diamonds, 
and his daughter, Eilene, with a ten-dollar diamond ring.” 

Even the men who were dazzled at their prosperity 
soon settled down to work in an earnest way for the con¬ 
tinuous upbuilding of their city. 

The population of the city, by the census of 1890, was 

l6j59 - 

San Diego occupies a beautiful and commanding site, 
on a plateau formed by gently-sloping foothills, on the 
northeastern shore of one of the finest bays in the world, 
the only land-locked harbor in California beside that of 
San Francisco. On the northeast and southeast are 
mountain peaks. The climate is remarkably equable, 
with a few cloudy days during the year. The average 
temperature for January and July, 1892, differed only 
ten degrees. The average annual rainfall is only ten 
inches. 

It is an astonishment to visitors how a city like San 
Diego can have been practically created within so short 
a time. There are nearly two hundred and fifty miles of 
street (fifty miles graded and five with asphalt pavement), 
thirty-seven miles of street railroad, including a fine elec¬ 
tric system, seventy-five miles of motor road, connecting 
with the business section, over forty miles of sewer, ten 
miles of gas mains, and seventy miles of water mains. 


218 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


There are a dozen hotels, twenty-three churches, four 
banks, and eight large public schools. The city-park res¬ 
ervation comprises fourteen hundred acres. There is a 
hundred-thousand-dollar opera house and three other 
auditoriums. The numerous handsome brick blocks 
would be creditable to a city three times the size of San 
Diego. The courthouse is a handsome building which 
cost two hundred thousand dollars. 

San Diego is a port of entry under the United States 
custom laws. The bay is thirteen miles long, completely 
land-locked, with six square miles of available anchor¬ 
age. The total area of the bay is twenty-two square 
miles, and depth of water over the bar, at low tide, twenty- 
two feet. About three hundred steam and one hundred 
and fifty sailing vessels arrived at San Diego during the 
past year. During a recent year seventy-three thousand 
tons of coal and thirty-seven million feet of lumber were 
imported. The coal bunkers of the Spreckles Commer¬ 
cial Company have a capacity of about fifteen thousand 
tons. A train of twenty-four cars has been loaded here 
in forty minutes. There are four large commercial 
wharves. Congress has granted an appropriation for a 
jetty which will further improve the entrance of the 
harbor. 

The city limits of San Diego extend north as far as 
Del Mar, a distance of twenty-three miles, embracing a 
large area of rugged mountain country. There are many 
interesting spots for tourists to visit within a day’s jour¬ 
ney, and railroad accommodations are ample. 

CHURCHES. 

The Roman Catholic, Methodist Episcopal, Protes¬ 
tant Episcopal, Baptist, Presbyterian, South Methodist, 
and Unitarian churches, all have places of worship. 

The San Diego Flume Company have built immense 
dams in the mountains, thirty-five miles away, at the head 


JULIAN. 


219 


waters of the San Diego River, and have carried this water 
to San Diego and vicinity. They propose to furnish water 
to irrigate fifty thousand acres of land. 

Every tourist should take the sixteen miles’ drive to 
the monument that marks the boundary between Mexico 
and California. The lighthouse is also well worth visiting. 
Thus, with driving, fishing, and boating, the tourist can 
interest himself ; but he will also find that city has pleas¬ 
ant social features, and he should not shut himself up 
like an oyster if he wishes to enjoy himself. 

From San Diego East and North. 

From San Diego eastward for twelve miles, rising 
higher, are the noted table- or mesa-lands, until suddenly 
a fertile valley of many thousand acres is reached. This 
valley is El Cajon. There are here several thousand acres 
in raisin grapes and other fruit. The town of Cajon has 
shops, stores, schoolhouses, churches, and several lines 
of telephone. 

Eighteen miles northeast of El Cajon is Nuevo, with 
schoolhouses, shops, and post office. This is the center 
of the Santa Maria Valley, which contains about fifteen 
thousand acres, while between the Santa Maria and El 
Cajon Valleys is the San Vicente with its four thousand 
acres. Ballcna is a pretty little village, with store, post 
office, and sehoolhouse. It is four miles from Nuevo and 
thirty-five miles from San Diego, and has an elevation of 
twenty-five hundred feet above sea level. Ten miles 
northeast of Ballena is the rich Santa Ysabel ranch of 
eighteen thousand acres. 

Fifteen miles farther east is Julian , a flourishing min¬ 
ing town. Julian is not only a mining town, but is also the 
center of a good fruit and agricultural country. It is true, 
they have snow and frost in this mountain town, and can 
not raise oranges and lemons, but the vicinity is noted for 
its apples and pears. Julian is four thousand two hundred 


220 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH . 


feet above the sea, and for certain classes of lung troubles 
is doubtless very desirable. It is soon to be connected 
with San Diego, sixty miles away, by a railroad, and then 
the whole country will doubtless receive a greatly in¬ 
creased population. Julian now has stores, public hall, 
blacksmith shops, schoolhouses, quartz mills, and a tele¬ 
phone line to San Diego. 

Three miles east of Julian is the mining town of Ban¬ 
ner, with its quartz mills, schoolhouse, etc. A short dis¬ 
tance east of Banner the mountain range is crossed, and 
the traveler looks down several thousand feet upon that 
great ocean of sand—the Colorado Desert. This im¬ 
mense barren plain occupies three fifths of the area of San 
Diego County. It is to this worthless waste that San 
Diego County is indebted for her incomparable climate. 

A few miles north of Julian is Warner’s Ranch, con¬ 
sisting of twenty-six thousand six hundred acres of valu¬ 
able land, formerly owned by the late ex-Governor John 
G. Downey, of Los Angeles. 

Just west of Warner’s Ranch is Mesa Grande, with its 
cattle, hogs, bees, and mines. There are in the territory 
just traversed in coming from San Diego forests, rivers, 
and mountains, with many picturesque scenes and roman¬ 
tic spots. When the Julian Railroad is completed, it will 
be a region well worth visiting. 

Starting again from San Diego, and going southeast 
through National City, the National Ranch, the Otay, 
Janal, and Jamul Valleys are all soon traversed. On, east 
of them, forty-five miles from San Diego, is Potrero, an 
agricultural village. Fifteen miles farther east, almost on 
the Mexican frontier, is Campo, another agricultural vil¬ 
lage and trading post. Cattle, horses, hogs, grain, hay, 
and honey are the chief products. The fact that the honey 
crop of San Diego County recently amounted to over 
2,500,000 pounds gives some idea of the extent of this 
industry. 


ESCONDIDO. 


221 


Going north from San Diego over the California 
Southern Railroad, the visitor passes through numerous 
seaside villages, but the first place of importance is Del 
Mar, a delightful summer resort. The beautiful ocean 
beach, clean streets, and pretty cottages attract the eye. 
Del Mar is twenty-three miles from San Diego. Here are 
bath houses and excellent hotels. The proprietors will 
not sell a lot except the buyer binds himself to put on im¬ 
provements of not less than a fixed value. No saloons are 
permitted, and the class of summer visitors is of the very 
best. 

A few miles east of Del Mar is Poway, the center of a 
rich agricultural and horticultural valley. It has stores, 
schools, churches, and post offices. 

Six miles north of Del Mar is Encinitas, another sea¬ 
side village with flattering prospects. East of this village 
are the Encinitas and San Dieguito ranches, both large 
bodies of rich productive land that are being rapidly put 
under cultivation. 

Ten miles east of Encinitas is Bernardo, another agri¬ 
cultural center. A village with the usual stores, school- 
house, and shops. 

A short distance north of Encinitas a short branch 
line runs to Escondido, about twelve miles from the coast. 

Escondido is a beautiful town in the center of one of 
the richest regions in San Diego County. It is starting 
with a highly-educated class of citizens. In fact, the ob¬ 
ject is to make this delightful place an educational center. 
Already the University of Southern California has estab¬ 
lished a preparatory school here, called the Escondido 
Seminary. 

A few miles farther north is Carlsbad, a seaside resort 
noted for its mineral waters. 

Three miles north of Carlsbad is Oceanside, the chief 
town in San Diego County, not on the bay. Here within a 
few months has sprung up quite a town. It has its news- 


222 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


papers, numerous stores, hotels, bath houses, and, in fact, 
everything a well-regulated watering place should have. 
The surf-bathing at this place is good. 

Here a branch of the California Southern Railroad de¬ 
flects to the east, extending as far as Fallbrook, and an¬ 
other to Escondido. No visitor to Southern California 
should fail to stop at Oceanside; not for the surf bathing 
and invigorating ocean breeze alone—those he can get at 
Santa Monica, Long Beach, Santa Barbara, and numer¬ 
ous other places—but near Oceanside is the wonderful 
San Luis Rey Mission. This mission is located at the 
town of San Luis Rcy, four miles east of Oceanside. It 
was established in June, 1798. The population of the town 
is about six hundred. There are the usual stores, school- 
house, etc. The town is at the mouth of the San Luis Rey 
Valley. 

North of Oceanside the main line of the Santa Fe Rail¬ 
road hugs the coast until it reaches San Juan Capistrano. 

Nineteen miles north of Oceanside is Fallbrook , a 
mountain station, near which is good agricultural and 
fruit land. The road formerly ran through the picturesque 
Temecula Canon to the station of Temecula, one hun¬ 
dred and twelve miles from Los Angeles and seventy- 
four miles from San Diego, but it was washed out several 
times by winter freshets and has not been rebuilt, the con¬ 
nection being made by stage to Perris. Here is an his¬ 
toric section. The reader, who has read Ramona, already 
knows of Temecula and the beautiful Pala Valley twelve 
miles inland, where the old Pala Mission stands. 

Thus is closed a hasty sketch of this large county. 
The writer has several times traveled over the county, 
and has tried to condense and present its most salient 
points. Liberal use has been made of the valuable works 
on San Diego County, by Douglass Gunn and T. S. Van¬ 
dyke, Esq. The San Diego Sun and the San Diego Union 
have also been frequently quoted. 



The Call to Sunrise Mass, Pala Mission 











224 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


Climate of San Diego County. 

The following, from the Southern California Practi¬ 
tioner for May, 1887, is from the pen of C. M. Fenn, A. M., 
M. D., a gentleman who has been for many years a prac¬ 
titioner in the city of San Diego: 

“ Another typical and remarkable salubrious climate is found 
in the city of San Diego, which, from its position on the eastern 
shore of our bay, is neither coast nor inland; it includes, how¬ 
ever, the desirable qualities of each. Point Loma, one of the most 
elevated lighthouse promontories of the world, shuts out the sea 
from a small portion of the city. From sea-level the red granite 
earth trends eastward with gradual ascent, until it culminates in 
a plateau one hundred feet in altitude, and extending in all di¬ 
rections. It will be readily inferred that the natural drainage 
of San Diego can not be excelled. The rainfall of the city is less 
than in the interior, an average rainy season with us implying 
about ten inches of water, evenly distributed through the winter 
and spring months. As in the ancient days and times, when the 
great temple was building, so here it usually ‘ rains in the night 
season only,'and the days pass with genial sun and unclouded 
skies, as if to give the invalid no reasonable excuse for remain¬ 
ing within doors. For the same reason mud is seldom seen, and 
then for a brief period, even upon our thoroughfares. For the 
most part, therefore, there is an absence of the noxious fumes so 
frequently emanating from filthy streets, and which are often not 
less deleterious than sewer gas itself. In corroboration of our 
equable temperature, the Signal-Service records for thirteen 
years, ending with 1884, show a mean difference between summer 
and winter of only 12.3 0 ! I have also been favored by the depart¬ 
ment at Washington with the meteorological data of January 
and July, 1886. Without quoting in extenso, I find the mean 
daily range of temperature at San Diego to have been 13 0 and 
ii°; mean daily relative humidity, 74 0 and 77 0 ; highest velocity 
of prevailing northwest wind, 29 and 19; number of days on 
which the sun was more or less obscured, by what we might call 
high fog (?) or vapor, 10 and 2 (I believe the records class those 
as cloudy days, and write foggy days 0). 


THE TIA JUANA HOT SPRINGS. 


225 


“ The effect of such atmospheric conditions upon the system 
will be readily appreciated. The changes between night and day, 
as well as of the seasons, are so insignificant relatively that the 
least vitality is not too severely taxed. The day heat, as we have 
seen, can never be oppressive, and cool nights ever conduce to 
refreshing slumber. 


Mineral Springs of San Diego and Riverside Counties. 

San Diego County is very rich in valuable waters, but 
very poor in authoritative reports. The following has 
been received from the authorities mentioned. 

In response to a request from the writer for informa¬ 
tion on this subject, Dr. J. F. Escher, a prominent physi¬ 
cian of San Diego, says: 

“ The Bockman Soda Springs are forty-five miles directly east 
of the city of San Diego, and can be reached hy stage and private 
conveyance; the former every two days as far as Descanso P. O., 
and the remainder of the distance—twelve miles—by private con¬ 
veyance. The water is cold, and is strongly impregnated with 
soda, iron, and carbonic-acid gas. The water resembles that of 
the Napa Soda Springs. 

“ The Tia Juana Hot Springs—temperature from 120° to 140° 
—though not in San Diego County, being directly across the line 
in Lower California, are tributary to San Diego city, and nearer 
to the latter than any of the herein-named springs. The water 
is impregnated with sulphur, arsenic, and other constituents, 
and has proved very efficacious in the treatment of rheumatism, 
renal affections, and anemia. The distance is sixteen miles south 
of San Diego, and can be reached by stage every day. In a short 
time a steam-motor line will be completed to them, so that they 
can be reached any hour of the day in a few moments. At pres¬ 
ent the accommodations are very inadequate, as a year since the 
buildings were washed away in an unusual freshet. 

“ The Agua Caliente, on Warner’s Ranch, in the Valle de 
San Jose, seventy miles northeast of San Diego city and twelve 
miles north from the Julian mine, can be reached from the latter 
place by private conveyance, between which place and this city 
16 


226 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


there is a daily stage. The accommodations are ample, though 
somewhat rude, the springs being in the possession of the Indians. 
Temperature of water, 140°, strongly impregnated with sulphur 
and iron. 

“ Dr. Winder, of this city, who has visited most of the famous 
mineral springs of the United States, thinks these springs are 
not surpassed, if equaled, by any in the land. 

“ Agua Tibia Spring, also in the vicinity of Julian, is sixty 
miles from here. Of this spring I can learn literally nothing. 

“ There is also a mineral spring in the Santa Margarita Ranch, 
near the C. S. R. R., which has quite a reputation in the cure of 
rheumatism. 

“ Carlsbad, north of San Diego, has already been referred to. 
The waters for which the place is noted are from an artesian well 
six hundred feet deep. A correspondent of the Los Angeles Daily 
Times sends the following report: 

“ ‘ I send you the analysis of the Carlsbad water, signed by 
the State chemist: 


Per gallon. 


Free carbonic acid. 4*99 

Sulphate of potassium. 13.79 

Sodium. 19.54 

Chloride of sodium. 81.48 

Sulphate of magnesium. 0.42 

Lime. 10.33 

Carbonate. i.iq 

Magnesium. 1.24 

Peroxide of iron. 0.23 

Silica. . 1 . 64 

Chemically combined. 2.37 


Water and organic matter. 2.37 

Total. 132.23 


“ ‘ A spectroscopic examination of the water gave no reaction 
—lithium, strontium, or barium. 

The water contains no ammonia or nitric acid. 

‘“(Signed) George E. Copley, 

“ ‘ Assistant State Chemist. 
















TEMECULA HOT STRINGS. 


227 


“ ‘A light, purgative saline water, with enough of the chalyb¬ 
eate character to impart tonic qualities, and are rendered palata¬ 
ble. A slight impregnation of carbonic-acid gas. 

“ ‘ (Signed) E. W. Hilgard, 

“ ‘ State Chemist University of California. 

“ Together with this analysis they send an analysis of the cele¬ 
brated Carlsbad Springs of Germany, and the Kissingen Springs 
of Bohemia. Every ingredient that is in the one is in the other, 
with the advantage of the Carlsbad of California in its being about 
twenty-five per cent stronger. There is not a day that passes but 
a shipment of the water is made to some place, and but a few 
days ago nearly a car load was shipped to Boston, Mass. More 
anon.” 

The Temecula Hot Springs in Riverside County are 
quite noted. The following, from the Southern California 
Practitioner for June, 1887, is by Dr. Henry Worthing¬ 
ton, of Los Angeles: 

“ Some twelve years ago, while I was seeking health in the 
Temecula country, I met one day an old-fashioned Mexican 
carita drawn by two mules, driven by an Indian boy, and in the 
bottom of this strange vehicle lay an old man quite unable to 
move. Out of curiosity I examined this man. He was suffering 
from chronic rheumatic arthritis of several years’ standing, and 
he had traveled from Lower California (about three hundred 
miles) to visit the celebrated Temecula Hot Springs. Having 
become interested in his case, I watched the effects of the waters 
on him. This was in July, 1874. Three months afterward I was 
much surprised one day to see this same old fellow drive the carita 
himself, and I then learned that his rheumatic joints had been 
quite restored to their normal functions by a three months’ course 
of bathing. Since that time I have known many cases of rheu¬ 
matic diseases either cured or much relieved by drinking and 
bathing in these waters. 

“ These hot springs are situated in the northern part of San 
Diego County, about three miles from Murietta colony, in the 
foothills, having an altitude of some twelve hundred feet above 
the sea level. The waters emerge from the side of low lime hills, 


228 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH 


and, filtering through the earth, form a sort of limited cienega 
or marsh, and collecting at a lower point flow as a small stream 
until they are lost in the sands of a dry creek. 

“ The medicinal properties are due to sulphur, iron, and soda 
salts, as follows: 

Bisulphate of potash Bicarbonate of iron, 

Bicarbonate of soda, Bicarbonate of manganese, 

Bicarbonate of potash, Chloride of sodium, 

Bicarbonate of lime, Free carbonic acid. 

Bicarbonate of magnesium, 

“ The temperature is about 144 0 F., hot enough to boil an egg 
in from five to six minutes. These springs are well known—I 
may say celebrated—throughout this region, and even into Baja 
California and Sonora, so that for years they have been the resort 
of the natives and others. As in the instance of the old man re¬ 
ferred to, many have made pilgrimages from great distances. 

“ The climate of this region is, perhaps, somewhat different 
from that of any other part of Southern California—in fact, the 
winters are colder and the summers hotter—the changes more 
decided; and I am fair to say that, in many cases, this may be a 
desideratum quite as desirable as the most ideal equability. In 
the summer season, that is from June to November, one may get 
extreme dry heat; in the winter extreme dry cold, not the harsh 
chilliness of the East, but the tempered, bracing cold of a sub¬ 
tropical region. So much is said about equable months in these 
days, that I think this hot spring region is rather unique, in its 
having a climate hot in summer, withal so dry and bracing, and 
in winter an exhilarating dry cold, without extreme altitude. 

“ There are certain pulmonary diseases that require these very 
climatic elements, and I have seen many cases of lung troubles 
at once improve upon a removel to this district, after having ex¬ 
hausted, apparently, the climatic benefits of other more popular 
regions. 

“ In 1876 I examined H. L. B., a young man of twenty-five 
—cavity in right apex, extensive adhesions posteriorly—who had 
tried several other climates, but who was evidently becoming 
worse monthly. I advised the hot springs country. In Novem¬ 
ber, 1886, the apex had cicatrized, and the fibroid condition at 
the posterior base I do not consider serious. 

“ In 1877 I sent a patient to this same region, who was evi- 


TEMECULA HOT STREVGS. 


229 


dently in the third stage of phthisis. After a residence of some 
four years in this neighborhood, this patient did so well that he 
returned home to New York, and is still living. 

“ A case of asthma that had resisted every treatment, making 
life well-nigh intolerable, has perfect relief when at Temecula. 

“ A gentleman, who was an intense sufferer from chronic 
bronchitis and cardiac dilatation, went to the hot springs some 
fifteen months ago, and got such surcease from his bronchial 
catarrh that he now has little discomfort from cough or dyspnea. 

“ A great many cases of rheumatism I know of that have been 
quite cured by these waters; two intractable cases of urticaria; a 
severe case of psoriasis rubra, that had resisted arsenic and 
strychnine; one rather bad case of so-called muscular rheuma¬ 
tism; several cases of cystitis, one my own patient, whom I could 
not cure by ordinary treatment; a case of chronic cellulitis of the 
left broad ligament, with successive agonizing attacks of sup¬ 
puration, was relieved by the hot baths, hot vaginal injections, 
and drinking large quantities of the water, more than by any other 
treatment; and so on, I could adduce many other cases from my 
own and others. 

“ The subjoined table was kindly given me by Dr. A. M. Law¬ 
rence, who lives within three miles of the hot springs at Muri- 
etta, Riverside County: 


Elevation, 1,090 feet; latitude, 33 0 32' 24"; longitude, 117 0 10' W. 


Date. 

Mean tem¬ 
perature. 

Highest 

tempera¬ 

ture. 

Lowest 

tempera¬ 

ture. 

Mean hu¬ 
midity. 

Prevailing 

wind. 

Total rain¬ 
fall. 

No. of days 
on which 
rain fell. 

1885. 








July. 

70.94 

105 

57 

57-38 

s. w. 

O 

O 

August. 

75-95 

III 

53 

57-21 

it 

0.7 

I 

September. 

67.48 

107 

45 

61.10 

it 

O 

O 

October. 

61.15 

IOO 

35 

63.46 

tt 

O 

O 

November. 

54-52 

80 

27 

71.04 

tt 

5 -i 5 

8 

December. 

49-47 

80 

27 

70.59 

tt 

0.74 

5 

1886. 








January. 

49.49 

77 

21 

78.20 

it 

10.66 

8 

February. 

51.00 

80 

3 i 

72-34 

tt 

0.48 

2 

March. 

49.87 

80.6 

30 

84-54 

tt 

5-94 

8 

April. 

54.12 

78 

34 

79.21 

tt 

3-79 

4 

May. 

6.20 

98 

44 

77.11 

tt 

0 

0 

June . 

64 -95 

98 

48 

76.79 

it 

0 

0 



































230 


CALIFORNIA OF TIIE SOUTH. 


SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY. 

This was the largest county in the United States before 
the segregation of Riverside County, and is still one of the 
largest. It contained before the segregation 23,472 
square miles, making over 15,000,000 acres. I11 other 
words, this one county in Southern California was about 
the size of the States of Connecticut, Delaware, Mary¬ 
land, and Massachusetts combined. If we add Los An¬ 
geles and San Diego Counties to San Bernardino, we 
have a territory as large as the four States just mentioned 
and Vermont and New Hampshire combined. 

The county is bounded by the counties of Riverside, 
Orange, Los Angeles, and Kern, the State of Nevada, 
and the Territory of Arizona. The editor of the San Ber¬ 
nardino Courier says: 

“ The climate and productions are, of course, subtropical, 
though so varied are the soil and climate that, within the bounds 
of the great San Bernardino Valley almost every staple indige¬ 
nous to both the subtropical and temperate zones is produced. 
Our chief productions are the citrus fruits so precious in com¬ 
merce: raisin grapes, the various berries, wine grapes, from 
which great quantities of the best wine made in the State are 
manufactured, alfalfa clover, the most productive plant of forage, 
wheat, barley, oats, buckwheat, corn, and potatoes, which yield 
prodigious quantities to the acre, and general farm and dairy 
produce. 

“ Oranges, lemons, pomegranates, limes, figs, quinces—in 
short, all the subtropical fruits here attain to perfection. Our 
citrus fruits are the best known in commerce, and beat the world 
in competition at New Orleans and Chicago. Orange culture is 
the most profitable use to which land can be put in these latitudes; 
hence, orange-growing is here a leading industry. It is as fas¬ 
cinating as it is a profitable pursuit; hence every newcomer wants 
an orange grove. . After the eighth year an acre in oranges may 
be safely relied upon to give a net profit of five hundred dollars. 
Other citrus fruits are generally, if not quite, as profitable, 


SAN BERNARDINO. 


231 


though the orange is, on the whole, more certain. The crop 
ripens in December. An orange grove in bloom in the middle 
of January—the trees densely, darkly green, with their golden 
fruit standing out in contrasted relief, while the bridal blossoms, 
so dear to poetry, peep out in radiant purity—is one of the most 
beautiful and fascinating sights in Nature. What the climate is 
can be realized from a knowledge of the facts above given. 

“ Our raisins have a national reputation for superiority, and 
command the highest prices in the California and Eastern 
markets. 

“ The productions of the temperate zone are yielded in prodi¬ 
gal profusion. Our mesas give fine crops of wheat of superb 
quality. Barley and other small grains yield largely, while we 
have some of the richest corn land in the world. 

“ Potatoes, beets, cabbages, turnips, beans, sweet potatoes, 
and garden stuff thrive most luxuriantly. In many sections of the 
valley Irish potatoes can be had fresh from the ground every 
month in the year. Garden stuff is perennial. So are strawber¬ 
ries. So is alfalfa clover, which yields from ten to fourteen tons 
of splendid hay annually to the acre. In midwinter we have string 
beans, fresh tomatoes, ‘ new ’ Irish potatoes, green peas, green 
garden stuff, and the finest citrus fruits in the world on our tables 
daily. Strawberries fresh from the vine were peddled in San Ber¬ 
nardino all winter. Grapes from the vine were to be had in the 
middle of January in the sections around the foothills. Farming, 
in the Eastern sense, is followed by few. The farmer here, as a 
rule, is, more properly speaking, a horticulturist. He grows 
potatoes, wheat, barley, corn, beets, alfalfa—two, three, or per¬ 
haps all of them—for the use of his table and his stock, but gen¬ 
erally depends upon the sale of his fruit for his annual income. 
Of course, he grows his own apples, peaches, pears, and grapes. 
Good apples, delicious peaches, and perfect pears are produced 
in the San Bernardino Valley; and all of these command a profit¬ 
able market. There are a few great grain ranches in the valley. 
Where water for irrigation is available, land which will here give 
good wheat is altogether too valuable for the cultivation of the 
citrus fruit to be ‘ wasted in wheat-growing,’ as the farmers say.” 

A large portion of the county is mountainous and 
desert, but the mountains are rich in minerals, and the 


2 j2 


CALIFORNIA OF ■ THE SOUTH. 


deserts lack only water to be fertile. As the other lands 
become occupied, the writer fully believes means will be 
at hand for irrigating these barren wastes. The soil is 
excellent, and in the near future water from artesian wells, 
tunnels, or mountain reservoirs will doubtless be devel¬ 
oped. 

City of San Bernardino. 

This is one of the chief cities in Southern California. 
It was originally a Joe Smith Mormon town, and was 
planned after Salt Lake City. The town is well laid out, 
and that is about all that the San Bernardino people need 
to thank the Mormons for. So long as the Mormons were 
in control, the city developed slowly. The Mormon yoke 
was long since thrown off, and Catholic and Protestant 
bells ring out a new era of progress and prosperity. 

The altitude of San Bernardino is ten hundred and 
seventy-three feet. It is in a fertile basin, and the visitor 
is at once captivated by its numerous beautiful homes 
and rich orchards. With the development of water power 
in the mountains San Bernardino is destined to become 
a manufacturing place of considerable importance. 

San Bernardino and its vicinity is composed of succes¬ 
sive avenues of homes. A fruit-growing community must 
necessarily mean a community of many homes. “ Ten 
acres enough ” can well be said here. The outside of a 
home usually indicates the character of the people inside. 
Orange culture naturally develops the finer qualities of 
humanity to a higher plane than that of corn- and hog¬ 
raising. 

Visitors will find fruit-growers, as a rule, people who 
love the good and the beautiful. They are educated, and 
believe in the education of their children. It seems as 
though it would be an impossibility for a family to grow 
up here, under the shadow of Mount San Bernardino, 
where an ordinary drive leads to mountain canons and 


SAN BERNARDINO. 


233 


waterfalls, surrounded by flowers and ferns, where their 
chief occupation is among shapely trees and fragrant blos¬ 
soms, cultivating and gathering and packing the rosy- 
cheeked apricot, the delicate-skinned nectarine, and the 
golden orange, without having developed within them the 
finer sensibilities and higher attributes of mankind. 

Abundance of fruit means abundance of water. San 
Bernardino has in its immediate vicinity over four hun¬ 
dred artesian wells. These never-failing fountains, burst¬ 
ing forth from their earthly bounds, present a novel 
picture. 

The population of San Bernardino is about nine thou¬ 
sand. There are excellent public and private schools, 
and the usual complement of churches and secret socie¬ 
ties. 

There are several hotels. The city is on the California 
Southern and California Central Railways, and a branch 
line makes trips every few minutes to the Southern Pacific 
Railroad, at Colton, three miles away. 

Other lines of railroad run to Highlands and Red¬ 
lands, so that San Bernardino is an important railroad 
center. Trains leave frequently for Los Angeles, three 
times daily for San Diego, and twice a day for Kansas 
City, Chicago, and New York. 

There are numerous substantial brick business blocks. 
The climate of the city of San Bernardino is very pleasant 
in winter, but its summers are rather warm. Not so but 
people can live, do business, and enjoy life, but the fact 
that the ocean at Santa Monica is only about seventy miles 
away induces many to spend a few weeks where they can 
be fanned by the ocean’s breath. 

San Bernardino will ultimately be a large city. The 
writer of these lines has had ample opportunity to study 
the situation and channels of trade in Southern California, 
and he has no hesitancy in predicting that San Bernardino 
is destined to be a solid commercial city. To the east is 


234 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


the San Gorgonio Pass, with San Bernardino Peak twelve 
thousand feet high on one side, and San Jacinto Peak 
eleven thousand feet high on the other side, through which 
the Southern Pacific Railroad enters California, while a 
few miles to the north is El Cajon Pass, through which 
the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe reaches the Pacific 
coast. 

'The reader will probably note throughout this book 
the great proportion of physicians mentioned who have 
come to Southern California pronounced consumptives 
or asthmatics. Their testimony is freely quoted, because 
they are the most careful and competent observers. 

Other towns in San Bernardino County are Barstow. 
Calico, Daggett, Ontario, and Rialto. 

Barstozv is a mining and railroad town eighty miles 
north of the city of San Bernardino. It is in what is 
known as the desert. It looks bleak and desolate, but 
there is an excellent hotel, and two or three days can be 
pleasantly spent here visiting the mines, collecting min¬ 
erals and other curious rocks. The atmosphere is very 
dry, and cases of phthisis where there is no tendency to 
bleeding of the lungs would probably derive benefit from 
a brief visit here. Any lengthened visit would result in 
ennui. Barstow is a capital place to get a good idea of 
life on the desert. 

Nine miles east of Barstow is Daggett, another mining 
village, where there are immense beds of salt, while seven 
miles north of Daggett is— 

Calieo, the mining center of Southern California. The 
silver mines of this section have been a great source of 
wealth, and still employ a large number of men. It is esti¬ 
mated that the output from these mines has been two mil¬ 
lion of dollars in bullion annually. The nearest station to 
Calico is Daggett. 

Now, the reader will in his mind leave the arid desert, 
come on the Santa Fe road through Hesperia—through 


ONTARIO. 


235 

El Cajon Pass back to San Bernardino, then west ten 
miles on the California Central Railroad to— 

Etiwanda .—This is a collection of homes and orchards. 
A charming place! Although Etiwanda is not ambitious 
to become a great town, yet they have centrally located 
one of the best public-school houses in San Bernardino 
County. Etiwanda ships large quantities of raisin grapes. 

At North Cucamonga are many flourishing vineyards. 

A few miles farther west on the California Central is— 

North Ontario , a prosperous and progressive young 
town. South of this point, two miles on the Southern 
Pacific Railroad, is— 

Ontario , probably the most artistically developed place 
in Southern California. From this station to the base of 
the mountains, seven miles away, extends an avenue two 
hundred feet wide, lined on each side with pepper trees, 
eucalyptus, magnolia, orange, and palm trees, with an 
electric railroad. 

Setting back a short distance from the avenue are ele¬ 
gant villas surrounded by lawns, orchards, and flower- 
gardens. The beauty of this scene can be best compre¬ 
hended when it is known that the altitude at the station 
is fourteen hundred feet, while at the end of the avenue, 
at the base of the mountain, the altitude is twenty-one 
hundred feet. Thus it is to the tourist on the Southern 
Pacific train like a picture hung on a wall. Just think of 
an avenue seven miles long, with trees, gardens, lawns, 
and elegant houses for a picture, and a mountain for the 
wall upon which the picture is hung! 

At the Southern Pacific station, Ontario proper, there 
is an excellent hotel, stores, newspaper, and several 
church organizations. There are no saloons at Ontario. 
The people are liberally educated and refined. Besides 
the excellent public schools, there is a large, substantial 
structure—the Chaffee School of Agriculture of the Uni- 
versitv of Southern California. 

j 


236 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


Ontario is a choice resort for invalids. From Ontario 
to Colton, on the Southern Pacific, is nineteen miles east. 

Rialto , the first station on the Southern California 
Railway west of San Bernardino, is an extensive fruit¬ 
growing settlement where a large area of orange groves 
have been planted. There is a business street, also a 
hotel. 

Colton is situated at the crossing of the Southern Pacific 
and the California Southern Railroads. It is fifty-eight 
miles east of Los Angeles and three miles south of San 
Bernardino. From thirty to fifty trains pass through 
Colton daily. Almost all kinds of fruit are profitably 
raised here. 

The Colton Packing Company has a mammoth can¬ 
nery here, and employs several hundred persons during 
the season. The capacity is fifteen hundred three-pound 
cans of fruit per day. Brickkilns, limekilns, lumber yards, 
and stone yards do an extensive business. There are in 
Colton good hotels, schools, churches, and the usual num¬ 
ber of fraternities. 

As to the climate of Colton, the following interesting 
information from the pen of Dr. G. L. Hutchinson, a 
practitioner in Colton, who came to Southern California 
several years ago on account of rapidly-developing dis¬ 
ease of the lungs, is valuable: * 

“ While Los Angeles is usually the objective point for tour¬ 
ists from the East, those coming by the two southern routes pass 
a point that experience is demonstrating possesses peculiar ad¬ 
vantages for the health seeker. 

“ Colton is a town of about fifteen hundred inhabitants, lo¬ 
cated sixty miles from the coast, near the center of the beautiful 
San Bernardino Valley, and at the junction of two of the great 
transcontinental railroads, the Atlantic and Pacific and the South¬ 
ern Pacific. About twenty miles distant can be seen the snow- 


* Southern California Practitioner, p. 42, February, 1887. 



COL TON. 


237 


capped peaks of the highest mountains in Southern California, 
while down in the valley are some of the finest orange groves in 
the State. 

“ A large portion of the town is built upon a broad, sand> 
slope or ‘ wash,’ which seems to be the bed of a mountain stream 
that was long ago diverted to other channels. It is about half a 
mile from and seventy feet above the Santa Ana River. If a 
dry, porous soil is desirable, here it is. The well digger goes 
down seventy feet for water, fifty feet of which is through dry 
sand and gravel. With slight modifications, the relation between 
elevation above sea level and temperature holds good in South¬ 
ern California as elsewhere. Colton has an elevation of about 
one thousand feet; slight frosts sometimes occur, but not enough 
to injure orange or lemon trees. Fog is rare; when it occurs 
it is only at night, and is so thin that it disappears with the first 
rays of the morning sun. Protected by some low mountains to 
the southwest, the heavy sea fog drifts by to the north and south, 
and rolls up in fleecy masses against the mountains several miles 
away. 

Lying out in the valley several miles from the mountains, the 
cold winds which rush out of the canons and through the passes 
subside in the warm air of the valley, like turbid streams flowing 
into a placid lake, and one often hears the remark made by vis¬ 
itors who are spending the winter nearer the mountains, ‘ How 
still it is here in Colton! ’ This does not apply to the northers, 
for the highest mountains and the deepest valleys can only afford 
partial protection from them. 

‘‘A large proportion of the rain falls upon the mountains; 
many days in succession the mountains will be shrouded with 
dark storm clouds, while out in the valley is unbroken sunshine. 
There is during a part of the year a sudden fall of temperature at 
sunset, ranging from fifteen to thirty degrees. Theoretically, 
this has been considered unfavorable for phthisical patients; but 
with the important elements of elevation, dry air and soil, it is 
practically the reverse. 

“ Pure water is at all times of the greatest importance, and 
especially in a warm climate. Heretofore water has been supplied 
by deep wells, but now water is brought in iron pipes, from arte¬ 
sian wells several miles away. 

“ Six miles south of Colton is Riverside, and three miles north 


238 


CALIFORNIA OF TIIE SOUTH. 


San Bernardino; with these cities we are closely connected by 
steam and horse cars, and while we have many of the advantages, 
we escape the dangers incidental to a dense population. 

“ Of the advantages of Colton as a winter home for invalids 
there can be no question. 

“ Its freedom from fog, rain, and wind; its elevation and pure 
water; its remarkably dry soil and air; conditions which, taken 
together, are almost the antithesis of those which develop 
phthisis. 

“ Its proximity to neighboring cities and the mountains by 
several lines of railroad, give it peculiar advantages. During the 
summer months the thermometer ranges at midday from 90° to 
115°. During the day there is a strong sea breeze, but the nights 
are still and cool. To one who has not seen the fact demonstrated 
it is incredible that such a burning heat could be either grateful 
or beneficial; but, in this dry heat, where the functions of the 
skin are at their maximum, and the heat-producing forces of the 
body at a minimum, phthisical patients often do well, and 
it seems that at this season, more than any other, the alterative in¬ 
fluence of climate is most marked. 

“ Invalids with almost any disease, especially rheumatism and 
phthisis, do well at Colton throughout the year; but those suf¬ 
fering from diseases of the nose, pharynx, or larynx, character¬ 
ized by scanty secretion, find the winters very pleasant, but the 
summer the reverse, and should not remain here during the 
heated term.” 

Hesperia Valley consists of thirty-three thousand 
acres of land—a siliceous loam—twenty-five miles north 
of San Bernardino, along the line of the Atchison, To¬ 
peka, and Santa Fe Railway. The altitude of this valley 
is three thousand feet above sea level. Its climate is espe¬ 
cially adapted to persons suffering from asthma and bron¬ 
chitis. The raisin grape does well here. 

At Victor, beyond Hesperia, a great enterprise is on 
foot for the irrigation of an immense tract of land by dam¬ 
ming the Mojave River. 


REDLANDS. 


239 


East San Bernardino Valley. 

The tourist who visits the city of San Bernardino will 
want to take a trip over the small loop of the Southern 
California Railway’s “ kite-shaped track ” through the 
East San Bernardino Valley. 

First, there is for four or five miles that is known as 
Old San Bernardino—one continuous panorama of beau¬ 
tiful homes and rich orchards. The one the illustration 
represents is typical—neither better nor worse than the 
average. This is the home of Mr. Frank Hinckley, in 
Old San Bernardino, four miles from the city of San Ber¬ 
nardino. The hedge that is in front of the house is en¬ 
tirely of roses. There are over two hundred varieties, and 
there is never a day in the year but some portion of this 
California fence is in bloom. Here are lime, lemon, and 
orange trees loaded with fruit, and the tourist will find Mr. 
Hinckley ready to show all of these semi-tropic treasures 
in a hospitable manner. 

Driving on east, one soon reaches the ruins of the San 
Bernardino Mission, that was founded in 1820. Now 
higher ground is reached; and here is seen a picture of 
elegant houses and young orchards. 

This is a new community. Here is a soil of surpassing 
richness, a climate that is of great benefit to the invalid, 
and a people of wonderful enterprise. .Soon after driving 
through a roadway between two lines of palms a prosper¬ 
ous town is reached. This is the town of— 

Redlands, seven miles east of the city of San Bernar¬ 
dino. Here the orange tree bids fair to reach the acme 
of productiveness. People of wealth are rapidly com¬ 
ing here and building homes where they desire to spend 
the balance of their days away from the trials and dan¬ 
gers of the winter cold or the summer heat of the Atlantic 
coast. 

The growth of Redlands has been entirely since 1887. 



Residence at Old San Bernardino, 












































































MENTONE. 


241 


It was incorporated in November, 1888, there being 283 
voters. At the election in November, 1890, there were 
367 ballots cast. There are 780 names of electors on the 
great register issued last fall. 

Redlands has a fine water supply, which, in addition 
to its irrigation service, is being utilized to furnish elec¬ 
tric power. The soil and climate are perfectly adapted 
to citrus culture, and Redlands oranges take first rank. 
There are already over thirty-five hundred acres of orange 
groves in the district. 

Redlands has a most commanding and attractive lo¬ 
cation. Its citizens are full of energy, and visitors can 
scarcely credit the statement that all the solid improve¬ 
ments they see are the work of five short years. The city 
has paved streets, a sewer and storm-water system, two 
street railways, a thirty-thousand-dollar school building, 
twelve church organizations, two newspapers (one daily), 
three banks, an opera house, excellent hotels, and a num¬ 
ber of handsome brick blocks. 

Redlands is reached bv three railroads—the “ kite¬ 
shaped track ” of the Southern California Railway, the 
Southern Pacific, and a motor line. 

Judging from what has been accomplished during the 
past five years, he would be a bold man who would set a 
limit to the possible growth of Redlands between now and 
the end of the decade. 

One half mile north of Redlands is— 

Lugonia , a flourishing new town. In both of these 
places there are banks, churches, schoolhouses, hotels, 
etc. Mentone is charmingly located three miles east of 
Redlands, at the extreme upper end of the valley. North 
of Lugonia three miles is the section of country known 
as the Highlands, right up at the base of the mountain— 
a section of the country which is to San P>ernardino what 
the Monrovia and Sierra Madre country are to Los An¬ 
geles. Highlands is also an excellent fruit country. The 
17 


242 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


altitude is from fifteen hundred to two thousand feet. 
There is a State Insane Asylum here. 

From here is but a short drive to Arrowhead Springs, 
where there was an excellent hotel, recently destroyed by 
fire. After getting a good lunch the tourist should drive 
back to San Bernardino by way of the Rabel and Flarlem 
Hot Springs. Nowhere in Southern California can a day 
be spent more pleasantly than in taking this drive. Motor 
lines will soon be completed to all of these places, but even 
then it will be pleasanter to make this round in a carriage 
with a driver who is posted. If a longer drive is desired, 

Crafton, a few miles east of Redlands, will be found 
a romantic spot, well worthy a visit. 

Away up in the mountains, thirty miles northeast of 
San Bernardino, at an elevation above sea level of sixty- 
four hundred feet, is an artificial lake five miles long, that 
contains ten billion gallons of water. This is the Bear 
Valley Reservoir. The dam that retains this great bodv 
of water is of solid masonry, three hundred feet long and 
sixty feet high. It is twenty feet through at the bottom 
and three feet in width at the top. Sixteen hundred bar¬ 
rels of cement were used in the construction of the dam. 
It was all hauled one hundred miles. A four-horse team 
hauled eight barrels of cement, and was ten days in mak¬ 
ing the round trip. 

An inch of water is the quantity that will flow through 
a hole an inch square in the side of a box four inches below 
the surface of the water in the box. Fourteen thousand 
gallons will flow through this opening in twenty-four 
hours; consequently a head of water for twenty-four 
hours gives fourteen hundred thousand gallons. The 
fact that this reservoir furnishes a continuous stream of 
six thousand inches during the irrigating season, gives 
an idea of the large body of land this reservoir wilf irri¬ 
gate. 

San Bernardino County’s water supply for irrigating 


SAN BERNARDINO . 


243 


purposes is tersely outlined in the following, from the San 
Bernardino Daily Times. Other sources of supply have 
since been developed: 

“ The Santa Ana River, where it comes out from the moun¬ 
tains, furnishes water for the North and South Fork ditches. The 
North Fork ditch furnishes water for Highlands and the Cram 
Settlement. The South Fork ditch supplies water for Lugonia, 
Brookside, and Redlands. 

“ Mill Creek comes down from the mountains a few miles 
southeast of the Santa Ana River, and furnishes water for Crafton 
and Old San Bernardino. 

“ A stream running down from the south slope of San Ber¬ 
nardino Mountain furnishes water for Banning. 

“ City Creek, west of the Santa Ana River, furnishes water for 
a portion of Highlands. 

“ The stream from Devil’s Canon supplies water for a portion 
of the Muscupiabe Rancho. 

“ Lytle Creek, coming down from Old Baldy, west of Cajon 
Pass, irrigates Mount Vernon and vicinity. 

“ Etiwanda Canon irrigates the settlement by that name. 

“ Another small stream furnishes water for Hermosa. 

“ Cucamonga is irrigated by a stream fed by springs that rise 
just north of that settlement. 

“ Cucamonga Canon irrigates the Iowa tract. 

“ San Antonio Canon, on the line between Los Angeles and 
San Bernardino Counties, is equally divided between Ontario on 
the San Bernardino side, and Pomona and other lands on the 
Los Angeles side. 

“ San Bernardino is situated in the midst of moist lands where 
artesian wells can be had anywhere by going to a moderate depth. 

“ Warm Creek rises from springs in the main valley, away 
from any mountains. This creek flows into the Santa Ana River, 
east of Colton, and unites with the waters of that stream that rise 
within a few miles of the junction. 

“ The Meeks and Daley ditch is taken from Warm Creek, 
and irrigates a section of country below Colton. 

“ The Santa Ana River, in ordinary seasons, is dry for many 
miles below, where all the water is taken out to supply North and 
South Fork ditches. The waters of Warm Creek and other 


244 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


smaller tributaries, however, furnish a good stream again, which 
is taken out by the two Riverside canals to irrigate Riverside. 
In dry seasons these two canals take all the surface water out of 
the river at these points, leaving the underflow to come to the 
surface below; but Spring Brook, which rises just northward of 
Riverside, replenishes the stream again. 

“ The Jurupa ditch is taken out of the Santa Ana River, that 
irrigates West Riverside. 

“ The Yorba Settlement, including the property of the South 
Riverside Vineyard Company, located on the Santa Ana River, 
sixteen miles below Riverside, again takes all the surface water 
out of the river for that settlement, but other streams coming 
in from the north side of the river make a good stream that goes 
down to supply irrigation water for settlements in Los Angeles 
County. 

“ One of these feeders is a short stream that comes from a 
single spring that, summer and winter, furnishes two hundred 
and fifty inches of water that runs a gristmill within a mile of the 
spring. 

“ There are other small, natural water supplies, but we have 
enumerated the principal ones in this county. 

“ A stream of water for irrigation purposes in this valley is 
considered well worth one thousand dollars an inch, measured 
in an ordinary midsummer, and some water rights are selling 
at a higher figure. Hence every small stream that can be utilized 
is made valuable. The value of water is, of course, dependent, 
to a certain extent, on its location, for a small stream that will 
develop a small settlement is not so valuable per inch as a large 
stream that will make possible a larger settlement 

“ About all the natural supplies of water having been utilized, 
people have turned their attention to the development of water. 
This is done in three ways: 

“ ist. Artesian wells. 

“ 2d. Tunnels. 

“ 3d. Reservoirs. 

“ There are artesian belts where flowing wells can be readily 
and cheaply obtained. The artesian belt in this valley is now 
pretty well defined, and outside of this belt experiments are made 
at great risk. Usually, flowing water is obtained in moist and 
semi-moist land, and very rarely on the high mesa lands. Tun- 


ARROWHEAD HOT SPRINGS. 


2 45 


nels are being used now to save the underflow of mountain 
streams. Two are now in process of construction in this county. 
Judson & Brown have one in the bed of the Santa Ana River, 
below where the water is taken out of the stream to supply the 
North and South Fork ditches. 

“ The Ontario Land Company have driven a tunnel in under 
San Antonio Creek a distance of nearly eighteen hundred feet, 
at a cost of about fifty-two thousand dollars, and they have about 
two hundred and fifty inches of water, worth a quarter of a mil¬ 
lion of dollars. 

“ There are scores of places in the county where tunnels can 
be run in under the beds of streams, where they come out of the 
canons upon the plains, and the underflow saved for irrigation 
purposes. 

“ The first attempt at a storage reservoir in this county was 
made by Judson & Brown at Redlands. This reservoir has never 
been completed as at first planned, but it is now used as a dis¬ 
tributing reservoir only. When completed it will hold winter 
water enough to irrigate several hundred acres of land. M. H. 
Crafts next commenced a storage reservoir for Crafton, which is 
a great aid to the irrigating system of that settlement. 

“ In addition to these is the Bear Valley Reservoir, the largest 
irrigation reservoir in the State, which has been described.” 


Mineral Springs of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. 

There are at least one thousand hot springs in this 
county, and to see, as the writer of these lines has, hun¬ 
dreds of thousands of gallons of this hot water, “ Like 
a hell-broth,” boil and bubble up out of the earth, makes 
one feel as though this crust upon which he tarries is but 
a great witches’ caldron. Every tourist should stop at 
San Bernardino and visit some of these springs. 

The most noted of them all are the Arrowhead Hot 
Springs, and the following note * from Prof. John Dick¬ 
enson, A. M., gives an excellent idea of them: 


* Southern California Practitioner, September, 1887. 



246 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


“ About six miles north of the city of San Bernardino, on the 
face of the mountain wall overlooking the valley of the same name, 
may be seen clearly outlined against its background of desert 
vegetation, the figure of a colossal arrowhead, about a quarter of 
a mile in length, its point directed toward the mouth of the sub¬ 
jacent canon, in which burst forth the springs of hot mineral 
water, which give, in addition to the climatic charms of the re¬ 
gion, its reputation to the locality as a health resort. 

“ The Arrowhead Springs lie at the southern foot of the San 
Bernardino Mountains—a continuation eastward of the Sierra 
Madre—in the midst of a region of metamorphic rock—gneiss, 
mica-schist, feldspathic syenite, etc.—the decomposition or chem¬ 
ical action of which seems to furnish not only the heat that al¬ 
most boils the water, but the mineral substances held in solu¬ 
tion therein. Hot mineral springs are found all along the base 
of the above-mentioned mountain wall, but the point where the 
chemico-thermal activity seems to be the greatest is at the locality 
indicated above. Here there arc about twenty-five springs within 
a small compass, the temperature ranging from 140° to 193 0 Fahr., 
the solid constituents being, according to an analysis made by 
Prof. Hilgard, of the University of California, as follows: 


Analysis. 


Temperature of water, 193° Fahr. 

Sulphate of potash, grains per gallon. 4.C01 

Sulphate of soda, “ “ “ 42.476 

Chloride of sodium, “ “ “ 8.178 

Lithium.Strong test. 

Sulphate of lime, grains per gallon. 1.343 

Carbonate of lime, “ “ “ . 1*343 

Barium.A faint test. 

Free sulphureted hydrogen, cubic inches per gal... 644 

Strontium.Well marked. 

Sulphate of magnesia. ij6 

Carbonate of magnesia. 321 

Silica. 4.942 

Organic matter. Trace. 


Total solid contents 


62.984 

















Arrowhead Hot Springs Hotel, San Bernardino County. 
(Recently burned, but now rebuilding.) 

































































































































































































































































































































248 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


“ The ground in some places around the springs is saturated 
with the hot mineral water to such an extent that it is used in 
giving the so-called ‘ mud-baths.’ the patient lying in a suitably- 
constructed box filled with the hot mud, in which his person is 
immersed for a suitable length of time. The springs are much 
resorted to by persons suffering from rheumatism, skin disorders, 
blood poisoning, etc., and the waters are used freely both for 
drinking and for bathing. 

“ The comfort and pleasure of the sojourner at the springs 
are greatly enhanced by the charms of climate and scenery. The 
large and well-appointed new hotel stands at a height of two 
thousand feet above the sea and one thousand feet above the city 
and valley of San Bernardino, on a little plateau, between two 
branches of the canon, which opens into the valley just below. 

“ The eye ranges southward and westward over San Bernar¬ 
dino, Colton, and Riverside, over the intervening hills to the dis¬ 
tant Santa Ana Mountains, and eastward beyond San Gorgonio 
and San Jacinto toward the desert. The view is one of rare beau¬ 
ty and grandeur. The air is dry and bracing.” 

These springs were formerly called San Bernardino 
Hot Springs. W. P. Blake,* geologist of the United 
States survey, who visited this vicinity between the 3d and 
6th of November, 1853, describes the continuation of this 
series of springs, at a point lower down, as follows: 

“ The warm and hot waters gush out from the granitic rocks 
on the flanks of San Bernardino and adjacent heights. In one 
place the springs are so numerous, and the water rises in such a 
volume, that a good-sized mill stream of hot water is formed, 
which flows down into the valley, and is one of the principal tribu¬ 
taries of the Santa Ana River. This brook of hot water retains 
a temperature of ioo° Fahr. three or four miles from its source. 

“ I visited several of the springs on the sides of the Sierra, 
between San Bernardino Mountain and the Cajon Pass, near the 
saw-mill road. It was evident that the adjacent granite was very 


* Mineral Springs of the United States and Canada, Geo. E. Walton, 
M. D. D. Appleton & Co., New York, 18S6. 



ARROWHEAD HOT SPRINGS. 


249 


near the surface, as shown by one or two outcrops, from one of 
which the hot water issued. Small springs rise at intervals of ten 
or twenty feet along a distance of thirty or forty rods. Their 
waters unite and form a little stream that empties into the brook 
a short distance below. The banks of the stream were thickly 
overgrown with grass. A dense mass of beautiful green con- 
ferve grew from the bottom and sides of the channel, and floated 
in rich waving masses in the hot water. In the immediate vicin¬ 
ity of the springs, however, no vegetable growth was visible. 
The rocks and gravel in contact with the water were covered 
with a snow-white incrustation, and little twigs and leaves that 
had fallen into it were softened to a white, pulpy mass, and were 
partly incrusted. This was also the case with insects that were 
lying dead in the shallows of one of the springs, but I could not 
observe that in either case any petrifaction or internal deposit 
of mineral matter had taken place. The following temperatures 
were observed: 172 0 , 169°, 166 0 , 130°, 128°, 108° Fahr. 

“ The white crust was not found in equal quantities at all the 
springs. It appeared to be most abundant at one of them. . . . 
An analysis of the crust (by J. D. Easter, Ph. D.) since the return 
of the expedition gave the following results: 

“ The aqueous extract contained only a small proportion of 
chloride of sodium. In hot hydrochloric acid the mass dissolved 
with strong effervescence, leaving a residue of silica and alumina. 
The solution contained— 

“ Lime (carbonate), chief constituent. 

“ Silica (soluble in acid). 

“ Magnesia. 

“ Alumina and oxide of iron, traces. 

“ Phosphoric acid, trace. 

“ The springs are estimated to be at least five hundred feet 
above the level of the Santa Ana, at the Mormon settlement, and 
thus nearly sixteen hundred and eighteen feet above the sea. 

“ These springs are not the source of the large stream of water 
first referred to. It takes its rise farther eastward, near the moun¬ 
tain of San Bernardino. I regret that I could not visit its source, 
as the springs must be of great volume and high temperature to 
send forth such a large stream of water retaining its temperature 
a long distance from the mountains. I was informed there are 
several other localities of hot springs along these mountains, and 


250 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


there are, no doubt, many that have not yet been discovered. The 
large stream of hot water appears to be nearly pure.” 

I am indebted for the following information to Dr. 
J. W. Hazlett, formerly of Philadelphia: 

“Just east of the Arrowhead Springs, about half a mile dis¬ 
tant and at a little lower elevation, there are quite a number of 
valuable springs, in every respect similar to the Arrowhead, situ¬ 
ated on a ranch owned by Mr. Harrison. I have understood 
that he accommodates a few private boarders at times. 

“ West of the Arrowhead Springs, at about the same eleva¬ 
tion, there are several other hot springs, of about the same com¬ 
position, situated on Governor Waterman’s homestead ranch. 
Still nearer the center of San Bernardino, about three or four 
miles distant, there are several mineral springs, both hot and cold, 
one set known as the Rabels Hot Springs, about three miles dis¬ 
tant, and reached by street cars on Base Line Street. The other, 
the Harlem Hot Springs, are about one mile farther east on Base 
Line Street, formerly known as the Warm Creek Springs, be¬ 
cause they are the origin of quite a large stream by that name, 
which flows through the valley and empties into Lytle Creek. 
There is connected with these last two, as also with the Arrow¬ 
head, large basins of lukewarm water for still-water swimming 
and bathing, largely enjoyed by the young people of this vicin¬ 
ity. The accommodations at these springs are moderately good. 
There are several fine hot mineral springs in Lytle Creek Canon 
near the Glenn Mountain Ranch home, about ten or fifteen miles 
from San Bernardino. The waters contain large quantities of 
iron and sulphur. There is a comfortable bath house and tub at 
the springs, but no boarding place nearer than Glenn’s, two miles 
distant at least, and can only be reached by private conveyance. 
The Temescal Hot Springs, formerly owned by Major Thorn- 
dyke, are situated about twenty miles from San Bernardino and 
ten miles from Riverside, along the foothills on the northeast 
side of the Temescal Range. They can be reached only by pri¬ 
vate conveyance. The temperature of the waters ranges from 
86 ° to H2° or more, varying at times. It contains about the usual 
minerals. Probably the best hot mineral spring in San Bernar¬ 
dino County is the one known as the ‘ Agua Caliente,’ situated 


ARROWHEAD HOT SPRINGS. 


251 


in the foothills on the northeast side of the San Jacinto Moun¬ 
tain, between eighty and one hundred miles from San Bernar¬ 
dino, and about seven miles from the Seven Palms station on 
the Southern Pacific Railroad. A stage makes daily trips from 
the station to the springs, where one can find good accommoda¬ 
tions. The waters of these springs have always been considered 
by old residents as possessing peculiar virtues in rheumatism and 
skin affections, especially specific forms. I have never heard of 
any reliable analysis of the waters having been made, but have 
examined several specimens at different times myself, and found 
them to contain very large proportions of sulphur and iron, and 
I believe some special forms of soda, such as borax. Away up 
in the Santa Ana Canon, on the ranch belonging to Charles 
Lewis, better known as ‘ French Louis,’ there is a fine cold-water 
mineral spring, the ingredients being principally iron salts. This 
spring" is about forty miles from San Bernardino. The hotel ac¬ 
commodations consist of four log cabins and several tents. They 
are not first-class with respect to lodging, but good, healthy food 
is abundant. Plenty of sport in trout fishing and hunting. 
The elevation here is nearly five thousand feet above the sea level. 

“ In Bear Valley there are several hot and cold mineral springs 
that are said to be very abundant in mineral salts. These are 
about sixty miles distant from San Bernardino, at an elevation of 
six thousand feet. There are no hotel accommodations. East 
of Bear Valley, in the ‘ Twenty-nine Palms district,’ there are sev¬ 
eral more mineral springs, which are chiefly cold. 

“ Here in the middle of a vast sand desert is one of the finest 
cold-water springs I have ever had the good fortune to see and 
taste. It is a cavern spring, the water dripping from the roof of 
the tunnel into a basin dug out of the clay, about three feet from 
the floor. It is as cold as any natural water I ever tasted. The 
temperature outside the tunnel frequently reaches 120°. There 
are a few other mineral springs situated in the Mojave River 
region, distant about forty miles from San Bernardino, the names 
of which I am not familiar with.’' 


252 


CALIFORNIA OF TIIE SOUTH. 


RIVERSIDE COUNTY. 

Riverside, the youngest of the counties of Southern 
California, was created in 1893 from portions of San Ber¬ 
nardino and San Diego Counties. It has an area of about 
seven thousand square miles. 

The tourist coming from San Diego will be well re¬ 
paid if he gets off the California Southern at Temecula, 
and goes by team twelve miles inland to the Pala Mis¬ 
sion. There is a comfortable hotel, and abundance of 
good food. Mrs. Jackson spent three months at the vari¬ 
ous Indian villages in this vicinity. A pilgrimage to these 
shrines, where this gifted author worshiped, will be long 
remembered. 

Five miles farther on is the pretty town of Murrieta. 
There is an excellent hotel, and the visitor to these Indian 
villages would do well to make his headquarters here. 
Charges for board and livery are reasonable, and the de¬ 
tails in regard to the location of the Indian villages can 
be learned from the landlord. 

Three miles east of Murrieta are the Temecula hot 
springs, a detailed description of which is given in the 
chapter on mineral waters of San Diego County. 

Four miles north of Murrieta is romantic Wildomar, 
with its neat homes, green lawns, and brilliant flowers. 

The next place, and one of much note, is Elsinore , situ¬ 
ated on the lake of that name, at an altitude of twelve 
hundred feet. This place is just midway between Los 
Angeles and San Diego, and the quail and wild waterfowl 
make it a choice place for sportsmen to congregate. 
There are numerous small boats and a small steamer on 
the lake. A variety of clay is found here especially adapted 
to the manufacture of the pottery for which Elsinore has 
become noted. Here is also one of the best coal mines in 
Southern California. There are numerous hot and cold 
mineral springs in this vicinity. There are several rich 


SAN JACINTO. 


253 


gold and silver mines near Elsinore. Mineral paint and 
asbestus are also found here in considerable bodies. Take 
it all in all, there is probably no place in San Diego Coun¬ 
ty that has more flattering prospects of future develop¬ 
ment than Elsinore. 

Ten miles northeast of Elsinore is the San Jacinto 
Valley, fifteen miles wide and thirty miles long. This 
valley is attracting many settlers. Everything in the way 
of deciduous fruits and grain is profitably produced here. 
The average elevation is about fourteen hundred feet. 
There are mountain streams for irrigation, and also more 
than forty artesian wells that furnish abundance of water. 
On the mountains east of the valley are large forests of 
pine, hemlock, and tamarack, from which lumber in quan¬ 
tities is manufactured. 

San Jacinto, on the California Southern Railway, is 
the chief town of this valley. It has a population of nearly 
two thousand. There are brick blocks, brick school- 
houses, brick churches, and many other indications of 
a substantial growth. The place is probably the nearest 
self-supporting of any in the county. It has its own lime¬ 
kilns, manufactures its own lumber and brick, and pro¬ 
duces almost everything that man’s physical needs de¬ 
mand, even to sugar, for which honey furnishes an agree¬ 
able substitute. The train from Perris, eighteen miles 
away, on the California Southern Railroad, brings a daily 
mail. 

The Hernet Valley reservoir, twenty-five miles south¬ 
east of San Jacinto, at an elevation of forty-five hundred 
feet, is one of the great reservoirs of the world and well 
worth a visit. 

Pinacatc and Rock House are both flourishing villages 
in the western part of the San Jacinto Valley, with the 
usual village accessories. 

Perris Valley is the largest of the interior valleys of 
Southern California, comprising, with tributary valleys, 


254 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


a total of nearly one hundred thousand acres of fine level 
land, having an average altitude of fifteen hundred feet. 
It is a great grain country, and orchards are being 
planted. In sheltered spots west of Perris oranges are 
raised. Perris now has a complete irrigation system, 
which will give a great impetus to the growth of that sec¬ 
tion. 

Perris, a thriving little town which is growing fast, 
is at the junction of two railroads. There are schools 
and churches, a bank, brick blocks, two hotels, and a 
newspaper. Lands in the neighborhood are sold at rea¬ 
sonable rates. Near Perris several promising gold mines 
have been worked for years. 

South of Perris is the Menifee Valley, with a large 
amount of fertile, slightly rolling land, at present chiefly 
devoted to grain. There is a post office and store. 

Beaumont is a town on the Southern Pacific Railroad, 
twenty miles east of San Bernardino. The following, 
from Dr. J. W. Root, of the University of New York, is 
full of valuable information: 

“ Nearly every town in Southern California possesses some 
climatic differences from its neighbor, either to its advantage or 
disadvantage. My intention in this brief paper is to give the 
reader, and seeker after health, some idea of the climate of Beau¬ 
mont and vicinity, formerly San Gorgonio. Beaumont is situ¬ 
ated in the San Gorgonio Valley, on the S. P. R. R., eighty miles 
east from Los Angeles, twenty miles from San Bernardino and 
Colton, and about thirty miles from Riverside. 

“This beautiful and fertile valley, twelve miles in length and 
six miles in width, lying between the San Bernardino Mountains 
on the north and the San Jacinto Mountains on the south, is in a 
situation peculiarly adapted by nature to healthfulness of climate. 
We are entirely free from all miasmatic diseases. The altitude 
of this valley is moderate, ranging from twenty-five hundred to 
three thousand feet; northward the San Bernardino Mountains 
loom up to a height of eleven thousand eight hundred feet; in 
the southeast San Jacinto rises nine thousand feet; and looking 


BEAUMONT. 


255 


westward the snow-capped peak of ‘ Old Baldy ’ is distinctly 
seen. Truly, our mountain scenery can not be surpassed in beau¬ 
ty—one visitor remarked to me that she had never appreciated 
the beauty of California’s mountains previous to coming here. 

“ Invalids who wish to try a higher altitude than this of the 
town, can, within a distance of eight miles, find any altitude they 
desire up to six or seven thousand feet; and on the ranches which 
dot the mountain’s side can find very comfortable accommoda¬ 
tions. 

“ Pure water is always a desideratum, and here we have it as 
pure as ever flowed from mountain springs, piped from the moun¬ 
tain canons to the town. Perhaps the one feature which strikes 
the invalid, and indeed all visitors to Beaumont, more forcibly 
and favorably than any other, is the almost total absence of fog. 
We seem to be beyond and above the fog level. Occasionally, 
however, when a strong west wind prevails, the fog is forced up 
the pass from the valleys below, but the first rays of the morning 
sun dispel it. 

“ From the foregoing remarks the reader can readily infer that 
the air is remarkably dry, pure, and invigorating; the air at night 
is almost as free from moisture as during the day. and through 
the summer months the invalid as well as the strong can often¬ 
times enjoy the evenings out of doors with comparative impunity. 

“ According to a record kept during 1886 at the Highland 
Plome Hotel, the lowest point reached by the mercury was 36°, 
and the highest 102°. 

“ Our prevailing winds during the summer are from the west; 
and although this ocean breeze passes over one hundred miles of 
warm, dry country before reaching us, it is yet cool and refresh¬ 
ing, tempering what would otherwise be extreme heat, and ren¬ 
dering our summers pleasant and attractive, and not at all ener¬ 
vating. 

“ Sometimes, however, instead of this ocean breeze, we get 
one from the desert, and then the heat is oppressive. 

“ But this, like every other place, occasionally gives the bitter 
with the sweet. One of our unpleasant features, I might say 
almost the only one, is the strong east winds, or rather north 
winds, which sweep around the San Bernardino Mountains and 
up the pass from the east. These winds amount sometimes to 
almost a gale, and continue for two or three days; they are very 


256 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


drying in their nature, absorbing every vestige of moisture in 
their path; however, they are of only occasional occurrence dur¬ 
ing the autumn and spring months. 

“ With the exception of those cases in which altitude is con¬ 
traindicated, invalids of all classes do well here, particularly those 
afflicted with pulmonary diseases, such as phthisis, bronchitis, 
catarrhs characterized by abundant secretion, and asthma.” 

Eight miles east of Beaumont is Banning , with an alti¬ 
tude of twenty-five hundred feet, and with a special repu¬ 
tation for benefiting asthmatics. From here a person 
can make an interesting study of the Mission Indians. 
All kinds of fruits usual in Southern California, except 
oranges, lemons, and limes, are raised here. 

Fifty miles east of San Bernardino is Seven Palms 
station, from which a daily stage carries passengers to 
the noted Agua Caliente Springs, seven miles away. 

Indio, the central of the Colorado Desert, is situated 
in Riverside County, one hundred and twenty-seven miles 
from Fos Angeles, on the Southern Pacific Railroad. It 
is the most arid civilized town in America, the rainfall 
in 1890 being 0.73 of an inch. Of this amount, 0.06 fell 
in February, 0.15 in April, 0.10 in August, 0.21 in Septem¬ 
ber, and 0.22 in December. In 1891 there fell 3.06, but 
this all fell in February and August, 1.91 having fallen 
in February and 1.15 in August. In 1892 there fell 2.69 
inches. Of this, 2.00 fell in January, 0.33 in February, 
and 0.22 in March. In 1893 there fell 3.59 inches. Of this, 
0.03 fell in January, 1.61 in March, 0.95 in May, 0.05 in 
July, 0.75 in August, 0.07 in September, and 0.14 in No¬ 
vember, thus making an average annual rainfall of 2.5 
inches. Some idea of the temperature of this place may 
be gained from the following table for 1893: In January 
the lowest point registered by the thermometer was 35 0 , 
the highest 90°, and the mean temperature at 7 A. M., 
45 0 ; at 2 P. M., 83°; and at 9 P. M., 53 0 . In February 
the lowest point reached was 40° and the highest 90°. In 


INDIO. 


257 


March the lowest was 40° and the highest ioi°. In April 
the lowest was 50° and the highest ioo°. In May the low¬ 
est was 6o° and the highest 103°. In June the lowest was 
70° and the highest in°. In July the lowest was 75 0 and 
the highest 116 0 . In August the lowest was 78° and the 
highest 116 0 . In September the lowest was 70° and the 
highest 113 0 . In October the lowest was 50° and 
the highest 102°. In November the lowest was 30° and 
the highest 90°. In December the lowest was 30° and 
the highest 8o°. The valleys of the river Jordan and the 
Dead Sea are twelve hundred and seventy-two feet below 
sea level, and Lake Assal, in Eastern Africa near Abys¬ 
sinia, is seven hundred and sixty feet below sea level. It 
is claimed that, on account of the great atmospheric pres¬ 
sure in these depressions, persons suffering from bron¬ 
chial affections experience decided benefit from the in¬ 
creased quantity of oxygen inspired and the ease with 
which respiration is accomplished. The altitude of Indio 
is fifty feet below sea level. It is in the basin which lies 
from sea level to three hundred and fifty feet below sea 
level, and in which the Salton Lake of two or three years 
ago was a portion. This lake was about twenty-five miles 
from the town of Indio. 

Indio has a good hotel, post office, telegraph office, 
store, and an excellent water supply. Four miles from 
the town is an extensive grove of palm trees that are in¬ 
digenous to this desert. I11 these forests near Indio there 
are five hundred of these giant palms, standing far enough 
apart not to lose their individuality. When in the midst 
of them one feels as though he is surrounded by the giants 
of the story books of his childhood, and almost expects 
to see them suddenly walk away. Almost all of these 
great palms have been burned around their bases. This 
has been done by the Indians. Some say that they burn 
these trees in order to cause the fruit to mature rapidly. 
The dates from these trees are much sought for by the 
18 


258 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


natives, and yet they will ruin the trees in order to get 
this fruit early. Others say that they burn the trees be¬ 
lieving that the aroma is gratifying and pleasant to the 
spirits of their departed friends. Whatever the cause, 
it is a great shame that these beautiful trees should be 
thus destroyed, and the Government should take some 
steps to protect this unique forest. With a little care, this 
palm grove in the midst of California's great desert could 
be made one of the most attractive points in America. 
There are in this grove a number of little palm trees 
springing up, and on their first appearance they simulate 
a blade of grass. An expenditure by the Government 
of a few hundred dollars annually to protect these little 
sprouting trees and prevent injury to the older ones would 
soon bring this remarkable place into a state of great 
beauty. 

From Indio can be seen Mounts San Jacinto, San 
Bernardino, and Grayback, on all of which there is snow 
the year round. Near the town is an Indian village in¬ 
habited by the tribe known as the Coahuillas, who are said 
to be vegetarians and cremationists. 

About twenty miles from Indio are the Volcano 
Springs, and twenty-five miles away are the Salton Salt 
Works. In fact, there are many things in this vicinity of 
interest, and one never grows tired of watching the varied 
tints of the mountains that surround this basin. 

For many years there have been indisputable evi¬ 
dences of the benefit derived from the climate of Indio. 
Persons suffering from rheumatism, asthma, phthisis, and 
nervous prostration are all benefited. I do not mean that 
all persons suffering from these diseases are benefited, 
but that a large proportion of cases, in all these diseases, 
improve greatly at Indio there is no doubt. 

A combination of aridity and high altitude injures 
the person suffering from overwork and nervous trouble, 
while aridity with a low altitude soothes and rests and 


INDIO. 


259 


thus benefits those who have been suffering from a nerv¬ 
ous strain. The physician who has a patient suffering 
from insomnia can conscientiously send him to Indio. 
The nights are most delightful. It is the usual plan of 
the hotel to throw open all the windows and doors and 
practically sleep outside, and yet no person catches cold. 
The consumptive who along the coast finds it necessary 
to protect himself from the night air, can sleep out with 
impunity. Physicians recommending patients to try 
Indio should caution them to first secure accommoda¬ 
tions at the hotel, because there is always a far greater 
demand than they have room for. The relative humidity 
has only been observed for the winter months when the 
mean was 46°, but during the balance of the year it must 
be much less. Asthmatics claim to get almost miraculous 
relief here. 

The Southern Pacific Company have recently shown 
their wisdom by putting up a number of three-room cot¬ 
tages, so that consumptives are not annoyed by being 
brought in proximity with other invalids. These cottages 
have solved the problem of giving comfortable quarters 
for the patients without necessitating the exposure to 
the depressing influence that comes from other invalids. 

The frail patient should not attempt to remain at Indio 
later than May, and should not return before October, 
yet the sufferer from rheumatism, otherwise robust, might 
be benefited by remaining during the hot months. I have 
been out on this desert in midsummer and suffered very 
little inconvenience from the great heat. This is due to 
the dryness of the atmosphere. No sunstrokes ever 
occur, and the men work out in the hot sun during the 
very hottest of weather. In this locality California has a 
health resort to compare with which there is no other 
place in the world. Its great advantages are, first, aridity; 
second, mildness of temperature during the winter 
months; third, equability of temperature; fourth, ex- 


26 o 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH . 


cellent water supply; fifth, good hotel accommodations; 
and sixth, satisfactory railroad facilities. 

Palmdale, six miles from Seven Palms, is the center 
of Palm Valley, a sheltered nook of four thousand acres, 
at the eastern base of Mount San Jacinto, on the western 
border of the Colorado Desert, that has long been culti¬ 
vated in a primitive way by the Indians. Mrs. Jeannie C. 
Carr, author of Trees, Shrubs, and Wild Flowers of 
Southern California,after a recent visit to this valley,says: 

“ The physical geography of Southern California accounts for 
many otherwise marvelous phenomena in its vegetation. But few 
are aware that the forest belt of San Jacinto Mountain, like Ori¬ 
zaba, in Mexico, begins in a natural grove of palm trees. There 
the Washingtonia filifera has reached its northern limit, and is 
found in several noble groups from forty to sixty feet in height. 
The roots, filling the soil pockets of a rocky glen, are kept moist 
by copious springs; and the fruit, which hangs in immense clus¬ 
ters, weighing from fifty to a hundred pounds, is very ornamental 
from the contrast of the shining black berries with the ivory- 
white pedicels upon which they are strung. The fruit has the 
taste of dates, and was a favorite food of the Indians until they 
derived a greater benefit from its sale to collectors. The com¬ 
monest and most easily propagated of the palm family, as usually 
seen in cultivation, it retains little of its native dignity and slender 
grace. 

“ But in Palm Valley the polished leaves unfold in perfection 
among the warm rocks, and hundreds of young plants are seen in 
different stages of growth, for here is perpetual summer in sight 
of perpetual snow. . . . 

“ There is also a remarkable spring near Palm Valley, seven 
miles from the station of Seven Palms, on the Southern Pacific 
Railroad, to which the Indians have resorted for a hundred years. 
It belongs to a reservation of the Cerranos, whose captain, Old 
Francisco, is believed to be a hundred and twenty years old. Any¬ 
where in this wonderful region, * hid of old time in the West,’ the 
marvel is not in seeing a hale and hearty centenarian, but that one 
should die at all, where the air and the waters which come from 
the snowy summit of San Jacinto are strained of all impurities. 


RIVERSIDE. 


26 l 

“ Of all the reservations, this of Agua Caliente has been the 
most coveted by the all-conquering race, not so much from greed 
as in obedience to a higher law which includes wild Nature in 
the processes of human development.” 

Palmdale, with the exception of the acre here and 
there poorly cultivated by the Indian, had remained un¬ 
touched by the hand of man until January, 1888, when a 
company of business men organized and purchased all the 
tillable land. Their next step was to get water for irriga¬ 
tion. This they did by diverting the contents of the White- 
water Creek, twelve miles away, into aqueducts that now 
carry the life-giving water over every acre of their land. 
This land to-day, instead of being almost entirely appar¬ 
ently a desert, is being rapidly covered with fruit trees. 
Here is a remarkable contrast in climates that I have per¬ 
sonally experienced: Seven Palms Station is in the midst 
of a sandy desert, where there is a constant wind. This 
wind blows the sand with such force that from time to 
time the telegraph poles have to be renewed, having been 
cut through by the sharp sand beating against them. The 
western sides of the houses here are also being steadily 
ground, while the window panes have become white and 
opaque; but three miles from Seven Palms, on the way to 
Palmdale, the wind entirely subsides, and here for eight 
months in the year there is a most delightful climate. 
Grapes, melons, figs, and other fruits ripen several weeks 
earlier than in Los Angeles and bring higher prices. 

Riverside. 

Ten miles south of San Bernardino, seven miles south 
of Colton, fifty miles northeast of the Pacific Ocean, and 
sixty miles east of Los Angeles, is Riverside, the most 
noted orange section in Southern California. The popu¬ 
lation is about seven thousand. 

Even the visitor from other portions of Southern Cali- 


262 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


fornia, who has been accustomed to orange trees, draws 
a deep breath of astonishment when he sees the wondrous 
beauty of the Riverside orange grove. 

It is true there are soil, climate, and water just adapted 
to this industry, but the potent factor back of these ele¬ 
ments is an industrious, enterprising population, who take 
a pardonable pride in the beauty of their place. 

Hon. Frank Pixley, editor of the San Francisco Ar¬ 
gonaut, recently deceased, visited Riverside just after an 
extended trip through Europe, and then wrote: “ I 
stopped at Riverside. Of all the places in Europe or 
America that I have ever seen, this is incomparably the 
most interesting, the most prosperous, and most beauti¬ 
ful.” Rev. Thomas K. Beecher, of Elmira, N. Y., calls 
it “a garden plat ten miles long.” Mr. Beecher says: 
“ One can ride or walk mile on mile through vineyards 
and orange groves, the wayside delineated by hedges or 
shaded by eucalyptus trees sixty feet high, almond trees 
in bloom, peach, pear, apricot, fig, and walnut thrown 
in for luxury and variety! The roads are hard and ring¬ 
ing beneath the trotter’s feet, avenues of residences, whose 
architecture is of no mean pretensions; fountains, flower 
gardens, pastures, and mowing plats; in short, a garden 
township without a wasted acre.” 

These comments of Messrs. Pixley and Beecher were 
made about twelve years ago, and great has been the 
change since then. Riverside has been extended, its 
water supply greatly increased, a still finer class of resi¬ 
dences built, railroads to Santa Ana, Los Angeles, Col¬ 
ton, San Bernardino, and San Diego now take the place 
of the stage of those days, while large brick blocks and 
busy streets indicate that Riverside, beside being a health 
and pleasure resort, is also becoming a business center. 

Riverside is a striking example of what can be ac¬ 
complished in Southern California by well-directed ef¬ 
forts in irrigation. A little over twenty years ago the site 



Artesian Wells, South Riverside 


























264 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


of Riverside was a forbidding, arid plain, covered with 
cacti and brush. This season the district ships twenty- 
five hundred car loads of oranges, and there are nearly 
ten thousand acres of groves within a radius of a few 
miles. 

At Riverside the advantages of city and country life 
are combined. Most of the residences stand in spacious 
orange groves, and the daily mail is delivered at the 
houses. The people are cultured and refined. Riverside 
is said to have a greater per capita wealth than any other 
city in the United States. There are four banks, with 
average deposits of $1,200,000, and two savings and loan 
societies. The population, by the census, was 4,683. 
The assessed valuation of property is nearly $5,000,000. 

One of the features of the Riverside section, to which 
it owes its wealth and beauty, is the system of canals, by 
which an unlimited amount of water is always available 
for irrigation purposes. A complete domestic water sys¬ 
tem is being rapidly extended to every part of the settle¬ 
ment. 

The picking, packing, and shipping of an orange crop 
worth about $1,000,000 employs many people. Within 
the city proper there are at least twelve packing houses, 
and several more just outside. Besides the orange 
groves, there are over twelve hundred acres in raisin 
grapes within the district, from which from two hundred 
to two hundred and fifty car loads of raisins are shipped. 
New orchards are constantly being planted in outlying 
sections. 

Riverside takes great pride in her Magnolia Avenue, 
a beautiful drive one hundred and thirty-two feet wide 
and twelve miles long. This avenue is lined with eucalyp¬ 
tus, pepper, palm, orange, and magnolia trees. It is well 
worth seeing. Here, again, it should be said that no 
tourist who crosses the Rocky Mountains can afford to 
miss a drive down this avenue. 


RIVERSIDE. 


265 


Riverside has two daily papers, The Daily Press and 
The Daily Enterprise, ten churches, two banks, and the 
usual number of secret societies. There are a number of 
handsome business blocks, the streets are well graded 
and clean, and altogether Riverside is a model city. 
Trains from San Bernardino and Colton connect five 
times daily with all overland trains on Southern Pacific 
and Santa Fe roads. The tourist can go to Los Angeles 
from Riverside by way of Colton, San Bernardino, or 
Santa Ana, just as he chooses. 

On the railroad between Riverside and Santa Ana is 
South Riverside. The latter is seventeen miles from Riv¬ 
erside proper, and has a bank, hotel, etc. It has a sightly 
location on a sloping mesa, is well watered, and sur¬ 
rounded bv some two thousand acres of young citrus 
groves. South Riverside undoubtedly has a brilliant fu¬ 
ture. Back of the town is a celebrated mineral spring, 
water from which is bottled and sold in Los Angeles. 

At the World’s Fair at New Orleans, Riverside 
oranges came out victorious by taking the following 
prizes: One gold medal for the best twenty varieties of 
oranges—open to the world. One gold medal for the best 
twenty varieties of oranges—open to the United States. 
One gold medal for the best twenty varieties of oranges— 
open to California. 


Average Rainfall in Inches. 


Place. 

Period of 
observation 

Spring. 

Summer 

Autumn. 

Winter. 

Year. 

Los Angeles, Cal. .. 

5 years. 

3-73 

O.OI 

1.91 

7-23 

12.88 

San Francisco. 

20 

U 

4.80 

O.49 

2.68 

12.32 

20.29 

Asheville, N. C . ... 

11 

U 





40.20 

Cincinnati. 

41 

<( 

11.17 

12.67 

6.29 

9- 8 3 

42.96 

Mew York city..... 

2 9 

(( 

n -43 

13.08 

11.20 

10.81 

46.52 

Jacksonville, Fla... 

13 

a 

19.01 

21.27 

13.07 

8.66 

53 -oi 

Riverside, Cal. 

6 

a 





10.40 
















































266 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


Climate of Riverside. —Dr. W. B. Sawyer, a graduate 
of Harvard, came to Riverside on account of pulmonary 
trouble. As soon as lie was able to be around, he sought 
some outside business. He finally purchased a dairy and 
drove the festive milk wagon around at an unearthly hour 
in the morning. 

The Doctor has long since resumed practice, and the 
following is from his pen: * 

• ••••••• 

“ To the north, twelve or fifteen miles, is the range of San Ber¬ 
nardino, its eastern peak eleven thousand feet high, snow-capped 
and cold, falling rapidly off to the westward, where for miles the 
summit is clothed with pine forest. Just over the divide lies the 
desert, two hundred feet below sea level, and between the two 
nearly every altitude may be found at all desirable for a consump¬ 
tive. If any patient or his physician desires a higher altitude, 
perhaps it would be as well to stay at home. 

“ To the east, between Riverside and San Jacinto Mountain, 
are two table-lands, separated by a range of foothills. The first, 
upon which this city is built, about nine hundred feet above sea 
level; the second, upon which are found the settlements of San 
Jacinto and Perris, and many so-called dry ranches (because not 
supplied with water by irrigation ditches), about fifteen hundred 
feet in altitude. To the southeast, rising rapidly from the very 
city itself, is an irregular mass of hills and sloping plains over¬ 
looking, to the west the Riverside plain, to the east the San Ja¬ 
cinto, and to the south Elsinore, with its pretty lake. This, the 
Gavalon (Hawk), contains the now quite famous tin mines, the 
Minafe, Santa Fe gold mines, and, scattered about among the 
hills, wherever there is a spring or flat with grass and the possi¬ 
bility of well-water, the ranches of settlers. 

“ To the south, twelve miles, stretches Arlington, one vast 
orange grove, with the fruit now turning yellow. 

“ Below Arlington the land slides off in a gentle decline a few 
miles, until it meets the northern slope of the table-land, behind 


* A Study of Riverside Climate, with Suggestions as to its Adapta¬ 
bility to Cases of Phthisis. By W. B. Sawyer, A. M., M. D. Southern 
California Practitioner, March, 1887. 



CLIMATE OF RIVERSIDE. 


267 


which, and of the same name, is the range of mountains known 
as the Temescal. Through a break in this chain runs the Santa 
Ana River in its canon, up which comes the sea breeze and an oc¬ 
casional errant fog. 

“To the west, first the river, which, like most California 
streams, runs upside down, the bottom being on the top and the 
water underneath; then more table-lands and foothills, till twenty- 
five miles distant is the Cucamonga Range, at the base of which 
are Ontario, Cucamonga, and Etiwanda. 

“ The city proper rests within a small half-circle of foothills, 
approaching quite close on the west and north, and but a couple 
of miles distant on the east, though north and south are broad 
areas of plain-land sloping to and away from it southerly. 

“ An area of ten by twelve miles is incorporated as city limits, 
but this embraces Arlington and much outlying country. The 
entire population numbers three thousand and ten, of whom about 
fifteen hundred live in the town proper, and the remainder on the 
fruit ranches adjacent above and below. 

“ The climatic and atmospheric conditions resultant from this 
geographical situation, elevation, and distance from sea and 
mountain are unique. 

“ First, as to temperature. It is warm, but not hot, reaching 
in the summer months a maximum high point of 108° to no°, 
and in the winter from 78° to 8o°. The average during the six 
summer months from sunrise to sunset is only 73*/} 0 , and in the 
winter months 6o°. The very extremes of heat and cold are 
touched but seldom and at long intervals, and last but a short 
time. The high point is reached somewhat earlier and the low 
poini a little later than usually observed elsewhere, the former 
being gained generally during the hour between noon and 1 P. AI., 
and the latter at or very shortly after sunrise. The usual nightly 
fall and daily rise is more marked, if anything, than in colder 
climes, and it comes with greater certainty, regularity, and even¬ 
ness. In the summer months it is greatest, in the winter least— 
the average variation for January being 20°, and for July 34 0 . The 
night is rare when overcoat and blanket is not welcome and com¬ 
fortable, and the day unusual when wraps are needed at noon. 
The causes for these are, first the sun. It is a universal observa¬ 
tion that nowhere is its influence so potent. Obscure the sun in 
winter, and the prevailing chill of the atmosphere drifting and 


268 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


settling from the snow-clad mountains is at once apparent. Morn¬ 
ing and evening house fires are essential, and the shady side of 
the street is unsafe for the invalid. The sky is little clouded even 
in winter, as compared with the clear days, and from its first rising 
till its setting, the one most prominent, most irresistible, and 
most emphatic feature of landscape and climate is the sun. It is 
only, apparently, a question of time, there being no appreciable 
difference between the heat-producing quality of its rays between 
December and June. Hence the high daily average of winter. 
A second cause alike of the constant day and night variation and 
of its excess in summer over winter months is the exceeding dry¬ 
ness of the soil. As soon as the effect of the winter rain has 
passed, usually by the latter part of May or first of June, there is 
no moisture at all in the soil for many feet below the surface, ex¬ 
cept in the comparatively small oases of irrigation. Radiation 
at night is unhindered, rapid, and complete. 

“ Again, the slope of the land to the south gives a larger pro¬ 
portion of the sun’s rays to each square foot than if level or slop¬ 
ing northward, and hence the absorption of heat is a little in ex¬ 
cess of normal, while the night radiation is the same. 

“ As quite prominently affecting the temperature should be 
mentioned the cool sea breeze blowing unremittingly during the 
summer months from the southwest and the desert winds from 
the north and east through the San Gorgonio and Cajon Passes. 
The latter come once in three or four weeks during the winter 
season, flushing contagion from the valley and bringing a warm 
breath from the Mojave, and uncomplimentary language to the 
lips of the natives. 

“ The ordinary wet season at Riverside is much drier, has less 
rain, and a larger proportion of dry, clear, sunshiny days than the 
average summer in New York, Boston, or Chicago. The name 
wet season is given to the months between September and June 
because during that time all the rain for the year is apt to fall, 
and because for the remainder of the year no rain falls. 

“ During this period the rain falls in showers of from one to 
four days’ duration, there being between these showers intervals 
of four days to weeks of clear open weather. 

“ In addition to the precipitation in rain, occasional and very 
infrequent fogs add a trifle to the total moisture. They drift into 
the valley from the seaward, coming up in the early morning and 


RAINFALL IN RIVERSIDE. 



vanishing by nine or ten o’clock in the forenoon. They occur 
more often in the fall and winter months, but come so seldom and 
are so light that their effect upon the atmospheric moisture is 
insignificant. From July, 1885, to July, 1886, there were two hun¬ 
dred and eighty absolutely clear days, thirty-eight days of rain, 
in many of which there was simply a shower with a precipita¬ 
tion of one tenth of an inch or less, the balance of the time being 
clear, and forty-seven in which there was a longer or shorter 
interval of trifling fog in the early morning. 

“ There is little apparent selection as to month or time in the 
month for rainfall, though the record shows February and March 
to have had the largest percentage for the six years given: 


Rainfall in Months. 


Month. 

1880 

and 

1881. 

1881 

and 

1882. 

1882 

and 

1883. 

1883 

and 

1884. 

1884 

and 

1885. 

1885 

and 

1886. 

Aver¬ 

age. 

September. 

October 


O. IO 

O.4O 

O.25 

0.13 

O.29 

O.97 

O. 12 

• • • • 

0.02 

O. IO 

0.27 

O.36 

November. 

0.20 

O. 12 

1-34 

December. 

2.26 

O.40 

0.20 

2.25 

2.56 

0.62 

1.38 

January. 

O.48 

I.70 

O.O9 

O.84 

O.77 

2.21 

1.015 

F ebruary. 

O.25 

I.40 

O.83 

12 . CO 

.... 

I.38 

2.64 

March. 

1.30 

1.08 

O.89 

6.26 

0.01 

1.95 

1.91 

April. 

O.74 

O.72 

0.26 

I . 67 

2.15 

i -43 

1. 16 

May. 

0.03 

0.08 

0.25 

I.99 

O.24 

. • « . 

0-43 

June. 


O.18 

• • • • 

O.52 

.... 

• . • • 

O IO 


Jan. 22, 1882, 8 inches snow. Aug. 22, 1884, 3 inches hail and rain. 


Total Rainfall. 


Season of 1880 and 1881, 5.26 
Season of 1881 and 1882, 6.31 
Season of 1882 and 1883, 2.94 


Season of 1883 and 1884,22.54 
Season of 1884 and 1885, 5.97 
Season of 1885 and 1886, 9.32 


“ The effect of the water used in irrigation upon the atmos¬ 
phere it is impossible now to determine. In rough numbers, the 
amount used daily throughout the entire length of the settlement 
is about two thousand inches * of continuous flow. 


* An “ inch ” of water is the amount that will flow through an aper¬ 
ture one square inch in area, under a pressure of a column of water four 
inches high. 

































270 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


“ This two thousand inches, while flowing into the settlement 
steadily all the year round, is diverted from day to day from one 
orchard to another, so that the relative humidity of the soil 
throughout the entire settlement is about the same, varying little 
the entire year. 

“ Third, as to purity. The great sources of atmospheric supply 
for this entire country is the broad area of the Pacific Ocean 
on one side and the great American desert on the other. In 
neither one of these sources are there any known beds of infec¬ 
tion, and in its passage to Riverside from any point of the com¬ 
pass the air can not pass across any infected regions, malarial 
latitudes, marshy lands, or anything decaying or dead. Scien¬ 
tifically we can not speak as yet, for no tests have been made, 
but to the unscientific observer it is so pure as to call forth re¬ 
mark. It does not seem possible that there can be any elements 
of impurity in the air. The soil of these great plains has not been 
dampened deeper than a few feet from an age to which the mem¬ 
ory of man runneth not back, and except the ‘ flowers that bloom 
in the spring,’ and die in the spring as well, they have had no 
green thing upon their surface for the same period. 

“ The effects produced upon phthisical patients is wonderful. 
Many men and women in Riverside cheerfully give evidence of it 
from their own personal experience. 

“ The colony beginning some eleven years ago as a purely irri¬ 
gation venture, readily attracted men of means who had sought 
California for their health, and who found in orange culture and 
the various enterprises of a growing settlement an occupation at 
once pleasant and profitable, and directly in the line of treatment. 
Many such are now living, as active, as well, and apparently as 
free from phthisical taint as if never affected.” 


SANTA BARBARA AND VENTURA COUNTIES. 

The Riviera of the Pacific. 

Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties are to America 
what the far-famed Riviera is to Europe. With their 
mountains and valleys, their delightful climate and varied 
products, their fishing and hunting, their mineral springs 


VENT'UR A COUNTY . 


271 


and warm surf-bathing, and their elegant hotels and com¬ 
fortable homes, they contain almost everything that could 
be desired. The farmer and the artist, the fruit grower 
and the silk grower, the lover of wine and the pious devo¬ 
tee, the archaeologist and the florist, can each have his 
wishes fully gratified in these two northern counties of 
Southern California. The early completion of the gap 
in the coast line of the Southern Pacific Railroad will 
place these counties on the main traveled route between 
Los Angeles and San Francisco. Santa Barbara con¬ 
tains 1,450,000 acres. 

Ventura County lies north and west of Los Angeles 
County, and east of Santa Barbara County. It has about 
forty miles of seacoast and two good wharves—San Bu¬ 
enaventura and Hueneme. The surface is a succession of 
valleys and mountains. The products are the same as 
those of Los Angeles County, with the addition of navy 
and Lima beans, and canary seed. Until this year it was 
not appreciated by the traveling public; but now that it 
is traversed by the Southern Pacific Railroad, its numer¬ 
ous objects of interest attract almost all tourists. 

Two trains leave Los Angeles daily for Santa Bar¬ 
bara. The visitor who wishes to see Ventura and Santa 
Barbara Counties should purchase at the Southern Pacific 
ticket office through tickets to Santa Barbara, and then 
get stop-over checks when desired. The road goes thirty 
miles directly north from Los Angeles to Newhall in Los 
Angeles County, and deflects to the west into the Santa 
Clara Valley, Ventura County. This valley is a rich, well- 
watered territory, about forty miles long, traversed by the 
Santa Clara River, which has its origin in the Soledad 
Canon, and reaches the sea between San Buenaventura 
and PTueneme. 

The railroad, on leaving Los Angeles County, passes 
through the immense San Francisco Ranch. On this 
ranch, for miles, are beautiful meadows, fat cattle, and 


272 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


large wheat fields. Next, the noted Camulos Ranch is 
traversed, and every person on the car is craning his neck 
to get a peep at the home of Ramona, but all he can see 
are the orange groves, vineyards, and olive orchards, for 
the historic house is so hidden by foliage that it can 
scarcely be seen from the car window. All the improve¬ 
ments of the Del Valle homestead are on the south side 
of the railroad. On the traveler goes, past good, bad, 
and indifferent places. The keen eye will now and then 
see away up toward the hills a bee ranch, the white bee¬ 
hives resembling, at a distance, a flock of sheep. 

Soon the Sespe Creek is reached. Here, March 23, 
1877, the terrible tragedy known as the More murder oc¬ 
curred. A bitter feud had arisen between Thomas W. 
More, a wealthy landowner, and a number of the settlers. 
On this night they set fire to his barn, and as he ran out 
he was riddled with bullets. A meeting of the Sespe set¬ 
tlers was convened the following evening at the residence 
of F. A. Sprague, who was afterward proved to be the 
chief conspirator. Sprague acted as secretary of the meet¬ 
ing, and presented resolutions “ deploring with deepest 
regret the awful tragedy.” Sprague and six others were 
afterward arrested, tried, found guilty, and Sprague sen¬ 
tenced to death. 

Owing to one of the witnesses for the State retracting 
his testimony, the Governor commuted the sentence to 
imprisonment for life, and Governor George Stoneman 
pardoned him nine years later, and, at the date of writing, 
he is with a married daughter near the Matilija Springs. 

W. E. Shepard, now a prominent lawyer of San Bu¬ 
enaventura, was then editor of the Ventura Signal, and, 
like a true newspaper man, went to the scene of the assas¬ 
sination the following morning. From footprints and sur¬ 
rounding evidence he formulated and published a theory 
so much like what proved to be the true history of the 
case, that an envious local editor suggested that he must 


SANTA PAULA. 


2/3 


have been in the conspiracy, and to his great consterna¬ 
tion, exchanges began to come in with accounts of the 
new-found accessory to the murder. Such is the reward 
of enterprise. 

It is said that not one of the conspirators, nor any 
member of their families, has prospered since that date; 
that they have all left the Santa Clara Valley, and are scat¬ 
tered in many directions. 

Santa Paula is a prosperous town. This town is in the 
Santa Clara Valley, sixty-six miles from Los Angeles, 
and seventeen miles from San Buenaventura. There are 
several large oil tanks here, and petroleum is shipped ex¬ 
tensively, after being piped to this point from wells in the 
mountains. A good quality of brick is manufactured 
here. Corn, beans, and barley are extensively raised in 
this vicinity, but it is the fruit of which its residents are 
proudest. Apricots, oranges, and lemons reach perfec¬ 
tion here. Olives, peaches, apples, and figs also do well. 
The beautiful orchards that the railroad passes through 
render argument unnecessary. There is abundant water. 
That used for drinking is piped from the Santa Paula 
Canon. There are the usual churches and societies. 

From Santa Paula on to Ventura is a rich, productive, 
highly-cultivated valley. The next station is Saticoy, and 
a few miles farther west is San Buenaventura, the county 
seat of Ventura County. This is an old town. The point 
of greatest interest is the Mission Church. The San Bu¬ 
enaventura Mission was founded March 31, 1782. The 
church is yet in a good state of preservation. Its brick 
walls are six feet thick. The old olive and palm trees are 
also objects of interest, some of them being very large. 
An aqueduct, six miles long, built by the mission fathers, 
conveyed water from the Ventura River. There are near¬ 
ly four thousand persons buried in the little lot west of 
the church. 

In 1828 this mission owned thirty-seven thousand cat- 
19 


274 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


tie, nineteen hundred horses, three hundred sheep, and 
four hundred working oxen. 

San Buenaventura, commonly called Ventura “ for 
short,” is most pleasantly located on gently sloping land by 
the ocean, with low hills at the back and mountains farther 
off, which shelter it from rough winds. The census of 1890 
gave the city 2,320 inhabitants, an increase of over one 
thousand over 1880, and it has since grown considerably. 
There is much commercial business and some manufac¬ 
turing. A large amount of produce is shipped from its 
wharf by the coast steamers. There is a street railroad, 
an excellent electric-light system, good water supply, 
banks, two fine hotels, churches, schools, handsome busi¬ 
ness blocks, a sewer system, and a number of attractive 
residences in tasteful grounds. One of the school build¬ 
ings cost thirty thousand dollars. A beautiful avenue, 
along the banks of the Ventura River, is sprinkled daily 
for a distance of five miles. Several newspapers attest the 
fact that Ventura has an intelligent population. The water 
of the river is used to manufacture electricity and ice, arid 
a railway to the Ojai Valley, run by water-power, is al¬ 
ready completed for a distance of several miles. A project 
is on foot for a large water-storage system in Ojai Valley, 
which will supply Ventura with enough power to run a 
number of factories. 

One of the notable enterprises of Ventura is a seed- 
and-bulb nursery covering thirteen acres, from which 
eastern seed houses are supplied. Back of San Buena¬ 
ventura are the remains of the picturesque old mission 
after which the city and county are named. 

Ventura deserves to be more frequented as a resort. 
The opening of the through coast line will bring it into 
greater prominence. 

This is a great center for the oil business, and there are 
three refineries. A visitor was recently being escorted 
through one of these refineries when he innocently asked 


NORDHOF—THE OJAI VALLEY. 


275 


the manager as to the quality of the oil. The answer was: 
“ The very best, the very best, sir! 150° fire test. If you 
don't believe it look on the head of the barrel/’ 

Twelve miles south of San Buenaventura is Humane, 
where there are extensive wharves and the largest ware¬ 
houses on the California coast south of San Francisco. 
The wharves were built by Hon. Thomas R. Bard in 1870. 
Hueneme has a natural harbor, and will doubtless even¬ 
tually prove a place of considerable importance. The 
wharf has paid a good interest on the investment from the 
start. 

Just back of Hueneme is a rich territory of several 
hundred thousand acres, a great portion of which is vir¬ 
gin soil, never having been utilized for anything but graz¬ 
ing purposes. One of the largest of these ranches is the 
Simi Ranch of ninety-eight thousand acres, that has re¬ 
cently been purchased by a syndicate, and has been 
subdivided and placed upon the market. There are 
several prosperous horticultural settlements on this 
ranch. 

A railroad company has recently been organized at 
Los Angeles to build a road from that point to Hueneme. 
It is generally understood that this road is the work of 
the Santa Fe Company, and is the beginning of a coast 
road to eventually extend from Los Angeles to San Fran¬ 
cisco. 


Nordhoff—The Ojai Valley. 

Every reader of this work has probably heard of the 
Ojai Valley, which contains the town of Nordhoff, and 
visitors of San Buenaventura should all take a trip to this 
noted resort. Nordhoff is fifteen miles north of San Bu¬ 
enaventura. Stages meet all trains. There are comfort¬ 
able hotels. 

For the first few miles the road passes through the 


276 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


suburbs of San Buenaventura, and the orange groves, 
vineyards, walnut groves, olive and apricot orchards that 
surround the cozy homes of the town are a delight to the 
eye; but soon the scenery is more picturesque. The stage 
skirts the edges of the Ventura River, and now and then 
the horses plunge through its clear, rapid-flowing waters. 
On either side are gigantic hills and broad, rolling plains, 
dotted—in fact, almost covered—with the large, um¬ 
brageous live-oak, whose perennial foliage furnishes the 
innumerable horses and cattle, that feed upon the wild 
clover, protection from the sun in August and shelter from 
the rain in winter. This whole ride is delightful, the only 
drawback being the dust which, in August and Septem¬ 
ber, after five or six months without a drop of rain, is an¬ 
noying. Even in these months no person will regret the 
ride. There is wilder and more rugged scenery in South¬ 
ern California, but there is nothing more artistically beau¬ 
tiful. 

All too soon the drive is over. A higher elevation has 
been reached, and between the sturdy oaks are glimpses 
of farms and white cottages, lawns, and fields of sway¬ 
ing golden grain ripe for the reaper. This is the Ojai Val¬ 
ley, and here is Nordhoff, its town and post office, named 
for the author, Charles Nordhoff, whose writings have 
been read in almost every intelligent household in the 
United States. This valley contains seventeen thousand 
seven hundred and ninety-two acres, and is divided into 
two parts: the Lower Ojai, in which Nordhoff is situ¬ 
ated, and which has an altitude of from eight hundred to 
a thousand feet; and the Upper Ojai, which has an 
altitude of from eleven hundred to thirteen hundred 
feet. 

The L T pper Ojai is noted for its orchards, while the 
Lower Ojai is particularly noted—agriculturally—for its 
fields of beans and grain, but it is not for these that the 
Ojai Valley is most noted. Its great reputation has been 


THE OJA I VALLEY. 


277 

derived from the curative value of its climate in cases of 
consumption and asthma. 

Ojai is said to mean “ a nest,” and this little valley is 
indeed a nest in the mountains. It is literally surrounded, 
with the exception of the pass for the stage roads, by the 
San Rafael and Santa Ynez Mountains. It is a mountain 
pocket. These mountains shelter it from harsh winds and 
protect it almost entirely from the fogs that come in from 
the sea. 

From the Ojai Valley House can be pointed numerous 
farms, and in each instance the family owning the farm 
came here for the benefit of an asthmatic. In the Ojai 
Valley these asthmatics live comfortable lives. 

In September, 1887, eating a hearty meal at the Ojai 
Wiley House table was a man by the name of Sacket, 
from Brooklyn, New York. For seventeen years he had 
been the usher in the right-hand gallery in Plymouth 
Church, but his health broke, his lungs became diseased, 
and haemorrhages brought him to the verge of the grave. 
As a dernier rcssort he came six months before to the Ojai 
Valley Blouse, but his cough was so incessant that it dis¬ 
turbed the other boarders at night, and a tent several hun¬ 
dred yards away was provided for him. His cough soon 
ceased, he gained rapidly in strength, and at the date men¬ 
tioned he was working twelve hours daily on a neat little 
cottage of his own. 

The mortality among children is exceptionally low. 

Fruits of almost every kind can be raised in this valley. 
There are pleasant drives, interesting mountain walks, 
horses that will safely carry the venturesome to the top 
of the mountains, and croquet and lawn tennis grounds 
under the oak trees, where the hours can be whiled away. 

Three miles away are the Matilija Hot Springs. There 
is the “ creek road ” and the “ upper road ” from San Bu¬ 
enaventura to Nordhoff, and the tourist can go one way 
and return by the other. 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH . 



In and near this valley are large bodies of excellent 
land that the point of the plowshare has never pierced. 
Arrangements are about completed to build a railroad to 
Nordhoff, and then these rich acres will be subdivided 
into small farms. 

Santa Barbara—America’s Mentone. 

' Having returned from Nordhoff, the tourist will 
doubtless take the train on the Southern Pacific road for 
Santa Barbara, thirty miles westward. Again will he refer 
to his map in order to comprehend what he sees. The 
hills and mountains hug the sea so closely that the rail¬ 
road is obliged to run almost upon the ocean two thirds of 
the distance. 

A more interesting ride by rail could not be conceived. 
For thirty miles the ocean is ever in sight. At times, on 
looking from one side of the car, nothing can be seen but 
the deep-blue sea, and it takes but a slight stretch of im¬ 
agination for the traveler to believe that he is out on the 
ocean sailing. The ocean surf can be heard beating under 
the train as though it were against the sides of a ship, and 
now and then a white-winged schooner flits across the 
watery vista. The cool saline breeze fans the forehead, 
and, without the nausea of a sea voyage, the tourist has all 
of its pleasures. 

Ten miles from Santa Barbara and twenty miles from 
San Buenaventura the railroad passes through the west¬ 
ern edge of the Carpinteria Valley. This is a body of rich 
land about ten miles square. 

Carpinteria is a collection of homes and farms where 
the Lima bean and the English walnut are the chief 
sources of wealth, although various kinds of fruits are 
raised. 

Now Santa Barbara, the renowned Mentone of Ameri¬ 
ca, is reached. Well does it deserve to be so called. Real¬ 
ly, though, it is superior to Mentone as a health resort 


SANTA BARBARA. 


27 9 


for Americans.* It has all the climatic attributes of Men¬ 
tone—it has the elegant hotels, delightful surf-bathing, 
pleasant drives, and, besides all these, it has a refined, edu¬ 
cated, hospitable American social life. 

The Santa Barbara Mission is the one point that above 
all every tourist wishes to see. This mission was founded 
December 4, 1786, and was the eleventh one founded in 
the State of California. It is a very large tile-covered 
building in an excellent state of preservation. It is situ¬ 
ated in the northern part of the city, and its belfry can be 
seen from the Arlington Hotel. 

The founders of this mission were men of wonderful 
prescience. They built a stone aqueduct several miles 
long to supply their mission with water, and this same 
water system is the one that now supplies the city of Santa 
Barbara. Other means of getting water are at hand, but 
with its present population of seven thousand no greater 
water supply is needed. 

In 1812 the mission fed 1,300 people and had 4,000 
head of cattle, 8,000 sheep, 250 swine, 1,322 horses, and 


* “ The only instance of the simoom on this coast, mentioned either 
in its history or traditions, was that occurring at Santa Barbara on Fri¬ 
day, the 17th of June, 1859. The temperature during the morning was 
between 75° and 8o°, and gradually and regularly increased until about 
1 p. m., when a blast of hot air from the northwest swept suddenly over 
the town and struck the inhabitants with terror. It was quickly fol¬ 
lowed by others. At two o’clock the thermometer exposed to the air 
rose to 133 0 , and continued at or near that point for nearly three hours, 
while the burning wind raised dense clouds of impalpable dust. No 
human being could withstand the heat. All betook themselves to their 
dwellings, and carefully closed every door and window. The thick adobe 
walls would have required days to have become warmed, and were con¬ 
sequently an admirable protection. Calves, rabbits, birds, etc., were 
killed, trees were blighted, fruit was blasted and fell to the ground, 
burned only on one side; the gardens were ruined. At five o’clock the 
thermometer fell to 122 0 , and at seven it stood at 77 0 . A fisherman in 
the channel in an open boat came back with his arms badly blistered.” 



280 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


142 mules, and its productions for that year were 3,852 
bushels of wheat, 400 bushels of corn, 126 bushels of bar¬ 
ley, and 26 bushels of beans. In 1828 it possessed 40,000 
head of cattle, 3,000 horses, 20,000 sheep, and 160 work¬ 
ing oxen. 

Mrs. Jackson’s description of this mission is interest¬ 
ing reading. The rich-toned bells were imported from 
Spain over one hundred years ago. 

After visiting the mission the tourist should go a few 
steps away to the reservoir and aqueduct, and see how 
well the holy fathers planned for the future. 

In 1850 the first roster of county officers was elected. 
Edward L. Hoar, a brother of United States Senator 
Hoar, of Massachusetts, was the first district attorney, but 
was the next year elected county assessor. 

In the year 1851 Santa Barbara had become a place of 
considerable importance, and the city council entered into 
an agreement with Captain Salisbury Haley, a civil en¬ 
gineer at Los Angeles, to lay out the city in uniform 
blocks one hundred and fifty yards square, all streets 
with the exception of two to be sixty feet wide. State 
and Carrillo Streets to be eighty feet wide. The survey 
was accepted, and Captain Haley was paid two thousand 
dollars by the council. After years of litigation, this sur¬ 
vey received a final legal confirmation. 

January 24, 1869, the Santa Barbara Press, which is 
now also a daily, was established as a weekly. September 
23d of that year Hon. William H. Seward visited Santa 
Barbara and made a felicitous speech. 

In 1876 Santa Barbara celebrated the Centennial with 
great enthusiasm. Colonel N. A. Covarrubias, now of 
Los Angeles, was president of the day. Rev. Stephen 
Bowers, D. D., the noted scientist and editor, now of Los 
Angeles, was orator of the day, and Colonel H. G. Otis, 
now of the Los Angeles Daily Times, commanded the 
military division of the procession. 


SANTA BARBARA. 


28l 


The Princess Louise and the Marquis of Lome spent 
a part of one season here, and were profuse in their praises 
of Santa Barbara’s climate, products, and society. Santa 
Barbara prides herself on being more aesthetic and cul¬ 
tured than her somewhat plebeian sisters, San Diego and 
Los Angeles, and the impress of royalty that the Princess 
Louise gave the city had a very expansive and exhilarat¬ 
ing effect. Santa Barbara’s citizens are noted for their 
politeness. A curious, idle tourist watched two of the 
city’s leading professional men for one day, and in that 
time they met on the street and elsewhere twenty times, 
and each time raised their hats and shook hands with each 
other. Such virtue carries its own reward. 

After visiting the mission the tourist should visit the 
Dibblee place, on the point above the city. This is with¬ 
out exception the grandest residence in Southern Cali¬ 
fornia, and commands a complete view of the city and 
harbor. 

Santa Barbara takes great pride in her public library 
and gives each year a flower carnival or fair for its benefit, 
lasting four days, which draws crowds of visitors. Mrs. 
E. A. Otis, in closing a description of this festival in 1887 
for the Los Angeles Daily Times, says: “This fair has 
been a rare success. It will close this evening, and add 
one more to the floral triumphs of .Southern California, 
where— 


“ ‘ Winds are hushed nor dare to breathe aloud, 

Where skies seem never to have borne a cloud.’ ” 

The population of Santa Barbara is about seven thou¬ 
sand. Its improvements are in advance of its size. 1 he 
main thoroughfare, State Street, over a mile long and 
eighty feet wide, extending from the wharf to the foot¬ 
hills, is paved with bitumen its entire length. Almost 
all the business is on this street, stores extending nearly 


282 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


to the end. There is no more brilliantly lighted city on 
the coast. The chief hotel, which is crowded with tour¬ 
ists during the season, has a world-wide fame. There are 
several other capacious and comfortable ones. A fine 
boulevard a mile long, fronting the ocean, has been com¬ 
pleted. 

There are thirteen church organizations, good schools, 
a business college, an opera house, public library, race 
course, and pavilion. 

The wharf is safe in almost all weathers, the natural 
harbor being an excellent one. Stages connect in several 
points in the county not reached by rail. 

. Overlooking the town, in the foothills, is the old mis¬ 
sion, the best preserved of any on the coast. A spring of 
mineral water, said to have been used by the mission 
fathers and now called Veronica, has been developed. It 
is said to possess remarkable medicinal qualities. 

Santa Barbara has beautiful gardens, with a wealth of 
semi-tropic vegetation. Its citizens are cultured, and 
many of them wealthy, having retired from business in 
less favored sections to spend their declining years in this 
Pacific paradise. 

In this work allusions in detail to hotels have been 
very infrequent, but the Arlington of Santa Barbara must 
be mentioned. It was built in 1875 by a joint-stock com¬ 
pany, at a cost of $170,000. After the climate the Arling¬ 
ton has done more than any other agency toward giving 
Santa Barbara its favorable reputation as a health resort. 
The people of Santa Barbara should look with great 
pride and gratitude on this hotel and its beautiful grounds. 
The hotel is well furnished and well managed. Santa 
Barbara has a south frontage on the ocean and slopes 
gently to the foothills back of the town. It is brilliantly 
lighted by electricity, and has a good system of street 
cars. Its principal business is done on State Street. The 
following table of monthly mean temperature of the sea 


SANTA BARBARA . 283 

water is conclusive proof of the advantages of Santa Bar¬ 
bara for surf-bathing: 


Comparative Temperature of Sea Water. 


Month. 

Santa 

Barbara, 

Cal. 

Santa 

Cruz, 

Cal. 

New¬ 

port, 

R. I. 

Month. 

Santa 

Barbara, 

Cal. 

Santa 

Cruz, 

Cal. 

New¬ 
port, 
R. I. 

January .... 

6o° 

52° 

32° 

August. 

65° 

60 ° 

70 

February . . . 

6l 

58 

32 

September.. 

66 

60 

65 

March. 

6l 

52 

34 

October.... 

63 

56 

58 

April. 

6l 

57 

43 

November.. 

61 

55 

44 

May. 

6l 

57 

52 

December.. 

60 

53 

36 

T11 rip 

(j2 

e« 

62 





July. 

64 

3 ° 

60 

66 

Mean... . 

62 

56 

46 


Montecito, three miles away, should be next visited. 
Rev. E. P. Roe, the noted author, speaks of Montecito as 
“ a villa region of blossoming gardens and green lawns.” 
Mr. Roe visited Montecito January 1st, and says: 

“ The orange trees were each laden with from one to two thou¬ 
sand golden-hued oranges, in addition to the green ones not to be 
distinguished from the leaves in the distance. Even so early in 
the season there were sufficient number of blossoms to fill the air 
with fragrance, the brook babbled with a summer-like sound, 
and the illusion of summer was increased by the song of birds, 
the flutter of butterflies, and the warm sunshine, rendering vivid 
the gold and glossy green of the groves. Rising near and reflect¬ 
ing down the needed heat were the rocky and precipitous slopes 
of the Santa Ynez Mountains. Turning on one’s heel, the silver 
sheen of the Pacific Ocean, gemmed with islands, stretched away 
as far as the eye could reach. Could this be January? ” 

This is a suburb of Santa Barbara. There are homes 
here that would be an ornament to the suburbs of any 
city. 

It was at Montecito that the big grapevine grew that 
was cut down and taken to the Centennial at Philadel- 
































284 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


phia. 1 his vine’s trunk was eighteen inches in diameter, 
and its foliage covered an area equal to ten thousand 
square feet. It has produced in one year twelve thousand 



Santa Barbara Grape-vine. 


pounds of grapes. There is now another vine growing 
here that bids fair to equal the parent vine. 

Another trip to be taken is a day’s picnic drive to the 





















































































SANTA BARBARA. 


285 


Hollister and Cooper places, twelve miles west of Santa 
Barbara. 

The farm of the late Colonel Hollister consists of 4,800 
acres. There are 10,000 almond trees, making it the larg¬ 
est almond orchard in the world. There are also 1,200 
orange, 500 lemon, 500 lime, and 1,000 olive trees. There 
are also 4,000 English-walnut trees, and 200 Japanese 
persimmon (a rich, luscious fruit) trees. In 1872 Colonel 
Hollister sent to Japan for twenty-five bushels of seed of 
the tea plant, and at the same time imported two Japanese 
tea growers. He raised 50,000 plants about eight inches 
high, but they failed to reach perfection. The date palm 
groves form an elegant shade for picnic grounds. 

Adjoining Colonel Hollister’s place is the noted ranch 
of Ellwood Cooper, consisting of over two thousand acres. 
Mr. Cooper was the first to introduce the eucalyptus into 
Southern California, and he is said to have two hundred 
thousand of these trees, including over fifty varieties, on 
his place. Mr. Cooper is most noted as an enthusiastic 
olive grower and manufacturer of olive oil. He began 
planting olives in 1873. Mr. Cooper also has large or¬ 
chards of citrus and deciduous fruits. 

On these two great fruit farms irrigation has proved 
to be the great factor. It is a curious fact that in the oc¬ 
casional years of drought in Southern California the 
mountain streams that supply the water for irrigating 
have not failed. 

The climate of Santa Barbara is admirably delineated 
in the following paper by Dr. C. B. Bates,* a practitioner 
of that city: 

“ My object in this paper is to give a few facts with regard to 
the climate of Santa Barbara, and also to the therapeutic benefits 
to be expected from a residence in such a climate, benefits which, 


* Southern California Practitioner, January, 1887. 





286 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


in my experience during a continuous practice of seventeen 
years in that place, have been realized in many instances. The 
following remarks apply only to that portion of Santa Barbara 
County about sixty miles in length, from one to five in width, 
lying between the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Ynez Mountains 
and extending from Point Conception southward to Point Rin¬ 
con. The city itself, forty miles south of Point Conception, is 
situated on a gentle incline running from the ocean back to the 
foothills to an elevation of about three hundred and fifty feet. Its 
aspect is decidedly southeastern owing to an abrupt change in 
the direction of the coast line. In the latitude of the Mediter¬ 
ranean, shut in on the land side by the Santa Ynez Mountains, 
some of which are three to four thousand feet high, sheltering 
it from the northwest winds which prevail on the Pacific coast 
during the greater portion of the year, protected seaward from 
the southeast winds by the Channel Islands twenty-five miles 
away, with the summer’s heat and winter’s cold tempered by the 
ocean at its feet, how can it fail to have an equable and pleasant 
climate? Within the bounds allowed me in this article it is out 
of the question going into any elaborate analysis of temperature 
tables, nor is it necessary. 

“ It will suffice for all practical purposes to give a few striking 
figures. Records kept during a period of thirteen years show 
average for January 53.25 0 , for July 68.45°, and for the entire year 
61.43°. Averaging the days upon which the temperature exceeds 
82° we find but fifteen for each year and but eight for the same 
period upon which it falls below 42°. Although so near the ocean, 
Santa Barbara has for a coast town a remarkably dry atmosphere. 
The yearly mean of humidity is 69.5°, while a few hundred miles 
north of us and in cities on the Atlantic coast, 8o° and even more 
are reached. Indeed, the dryness and purity of the air are shown 
by a custom of the natives who preserve their beef by ‘jerking,’ 
hanging long strips of meat in the open air till dry enough to keep 
for future use. This is done even in midwinter and frequently 
within a few hundred yards of the ocean. The average yearly 
rainfall for fifteen years was 17.31 inches, hardly more than would 
fall on the Atlantic coast during the showers of a summer. The 
rainy season extends from November to May; the remainder 
of the year is practically rainless. During the winter months, at 
intervals of three or four weeks, the rain falls in heavy showers, 


SANTA BAT BAT A 


287 



Irrigating an Orange Orchard. 


lasting perhaps a few days; then comes bright sunshine with 
charming weather till the next storm. Owing to the porous char¬ 
acter of the soil, decomposed sandstone, clay and alluvial, we are 

































288 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


not annoyed with mud; walking is pleasant within a few hours 
after the storm has ceased. 

“ From the foregoing data it is evident we can truthfully claim 
for the climate of Santa Barbara a remarkable equability, and it 
is this freedom from sudden changes which constitutes its chief 
charm, and in which lies its great therapeutic power. The in¬ 
valid, delicate as he may be, can pass the greater portion of each 
day during the entire year in the open air. One gentleman, a con¬ 
sumptive, kept a record of the weather, and found that in one year 
there were three hundred and ten days in which he could be out 
of doors from five or six hours or more with safety and comfort, 
and but fifteen upon which he was unable to leave the house; ten 
of these were rainy and five were windy. It is true our climate 
is not perfect. What climate is? We have at times wind storms 
lasting two or three days and bringing clouds of dust; but these 
are exceptional, seldom more than two or three each year. Then, 
also, during the spring and fall more or less fog prevails, obscur¬ 
ing the sun and depressing the spirits of the invalid. Nine tenths 
of this, however, would in the East be called low clouds, not fog; 
it is high and dry, and to many is a pleasant change from the 
‘ eternal sunshine.’ As a rule the fogs are not very frequent, and 
coming late in the evening are usually dissipated long before 
noon on the following day. The natural incline upon which the 
town is built, the porous character of the soil, and the system of 
sewerage recently introduced, insure good drainage, while the 
water supply brought from the neighboring mountains is excel¬ 
lent. There is no malaria nor any endemic disease. From the 
foregoing remarks the therapeutic advantages of Santa Barbara 
can easily be deduced. The equability of the temperature is the 
great therapeutic agency; local congestions caused by the blood 
flowing inward from a chilled surface are avoided. In phthisis 
this freedom from sudden change tends to decrease hemorrhage, 
to lessen also the local pulmonary inflammation. The open-air 
life possible to the invalid in such a climate only is also of the 
greatest benefit. Indeed, during my residence in this place I can 
recall but one instance of the arrest of pulmonary phthisis in 
which the chief means of cure was not this out-door life. In a 
marked case a lady patient of mine lived in her garden, protected 
merely by a brush shelter, for eighteen months. Day and night 
for the entire period, excepting only nine nights, she remained 


SANTA BAT BAT A. 


289 


in the open air. Afterward, while camping out on one of the 
Channel Islands, she was four months without the slightest pro¬ 
tection. In disease of the heart, the even temperature giving a 
regular quiet circulation of the blood is very beneficial; the same 
is true in kidney affections where a sudden chill will frequently 
cause a rapid and fatal advance of the disease. In nervous pros¬ 
tration or neurasthenia, in disease of the brain, no better place 
could be desired. The quiet, peaceful surroundings, the charm¬ 
ing scenery, the pleasant drives, the outdoor amusements, the 
fresh, pure, bracing air, bringing sleep and appetite, are all to 
be found in Santa Barbara. 

“ For children and the aged the place is a Paradise; no heat 
diseases which carry off the little ones so ruthlessly in the Eastern 
summer, no cholera infantum or membranous croup, while those 
advanced in years, sheltered from the cold and cutting winds of 
winter, with but few calls upon their lessened vitality, live on year 
after year in happiness and comfort. As for asthma, no one cli¬ 
mate suits all cases, nor, I think, even the majority. All I can say 
is that many have tried this place with success; others, unable to 
live in the town, find immunity from the attack at various eleva¬ 
tions on the neighboring foothills; some have left us disap¬ 
pointed and unimproved. I must not omit to mention our hot 
sulphur springs, useful in a variety of affections, nor the delight¬ 
ful sea-bathing, pleasant on almost any day in the year, for the 
rate of temperature of the water never falls below 6o°, but ranges 
from that degree to 65°, with a yearly mean of 62°. 

“ And now, in conclusion, a few words of caution. In Santa 
Barbara, as throughout California, the nights are always cool, 
even in the interior; no matter how sultry the day, the night is 
never oppressive; one sleeps comfortably under a blanket. This 
is of immense advantage, and yet it has its drawbacks. Just be¬ 
fore sunset the temperature rapidly falls and the invalid at this 
time should remain in the house, or, if out of doors and not brisk¬ 
ly exercising, should put on an overcoat. Indeed, although the cli¬ 
mate of Santa Barbara is warm, it is not hot; flannels next the 
skin, with moderately warm clothing, can and should be worn 
throughout the year. On the other hand, our climate, from its 
pleasant equability, approaches the subtropical, and my experi¬ 
ence convinces me that the diet of a subtropical climate is suitable 
to this. Vegetables, fruits, hydrocarbons with comparatively lit- 


20 


290 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


tie nitrogenous food or stimulants. Meat once a day is ample. 
Those of our visitors who bring with them the habits of their 
former home, eating three hearty meals a day, with perhaps meat 
at each and more or less wine or liquor, soon pay the penalty in 
a deranged liver, impaired appetite, and weakened digestion.” 

North of Santa Barbara and running from west to 
east across the county are the Santa Ynez Mountains—a 
great wall from three to four thousand feet high, with 
many wooded, watered canons and romantic glens. The 
only gateway through this wall, from the mouth of the 
Ventura River to Point Concepcion, is the Gaviota Pass, 
a great chasm in the mountains, thirty-six miles west of 
Santa Barbara. At this is the Gaviota wharf, one thou¬ 
sand feet long, from which a great amount of grain is 
shipped. Three and a half miles from the wharf is the 
village of Las Cruces, and three fourths of a mile away are 
the Las Cruces hot sulphur springs. Five miles northeast 
are the No-jo-qui ( No-Jwc-qucc ) Falls, where a beautiful 
stream takes a leap of a hundred feet. North of these 
mountains, and between this range and the San Rafael 
Mountains, is the Santa Ynez Valley, watered by the San¬ 
ta Ynez River. The principal town in this valley is Lom¬ 
poc—meaning “ little lake "—nine miles from the coast. 
This is the center of a rich temperance colony. It was 
founded in 1874 by a colony of two hundred and fifty men, 
women, and children. The chief desire of the residents 
is to have a home free from the influence of the liquor 
traffic. The town contains six churches, numerous stores, 
schoolhouses, and the usual number of secret societies. 
In its early history a druggist was found selling whisky. 
The women of the place appeared upon the scene in bat¬ 
tle array, and knocked in the head of his whisky barrel 
with an axe. A few years later a saloon was started, and 
on May 20, 1881, at 11.15 P. M. a terrible explosion was 
heard. The people rushed out of their houses, and found 
the saloon a total wreck. The Lompoc Record the fol- 


ALONG THE COAST. 


29I 


lowing day said: “ Whether it was done by an earthquake 
or by a Nihilist from Russia it is impossible to say, as no 
inquest has been held. . . . The general impression pre¬ 
vails that this is not a healthy place for saloons/’ 

Artesian wells furnish water in abundance. The soil 
is very rich, thirty-seven hundred pounds of Lima beans 
having been raised on one acre. Near Lompoc are the 
ruins of Mission La Purissima Concepcion, founded in 
1737. 

North of the Santa Ynez Valley is the Los Alamos 
Wiley, twenty-five miles long, and from one to two miles 
wide, watered by a stream of the same name. This valley 
contains the town of Los Alamos, which is five hundred 
feet above the level of the sea, seventeen miles from Lom¬ 
poc, and sixty-four miles from Santa Barbara. It is the 
terminus of the narrow-gauge road that goes north to 
Port Harford in San Luis Obispo County. 

The great Santa Maria Valley forms the most north¬ 
ern part of Santa Barbara County. It is said to contain 
two hundred thousand acres of tillable land, and is twelve 
miles wide and twenty-five miles long. This valley con¬ 
tains two towns, Guadalupe and Santa Maria, formerly 
called Central City. Guadalupe is in the northwest corner 
of Santa Barbara County, seven miles from the coast, one 
and a half mile from the northern boundary line of the 
county, and ninety-five miles from Santa Barbara. It 
contains about six hundred inhabitants and the usual 
number of churches, stores, and secret societies. 

Santa Maria is a few miles east of Guadalupe, on the 
narrow-gauge railroad. Over a half-million grain bags 
are sold here annually. It is the center of a rich com¬ 
munity of farmers. 


Along the Coast. 

The Coast Pilot of California, by George Davidson, 
of the United States Coast Survey, says: “ Point Con- 


292 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


cepcion is a characteristic and remarkable headland, about 
two hundred and twenty feet in height, lying at the west¬ 
ern entrance to Santa Barbara Channel. Once seen it 
will never be forgotten. When made from the northward 
or from the eastward it rises as an island; but upon ap¬ 
proach is found to be a high promontory, stretching bold¬ 
ly into the ocean and terminating abruptly. The land 
behind it sinks comparatively low, and at first gradually, 
but soon rapidly rises to the mountains, which attain an 
elevation of about two thousand five hundred feet. . . . 
The lighthouse is upon the extremity of the cape, and 
upon the highest part, which is about two hundred and 
twenty feet above the sea, and covered with grass and 
bushes like the land behind. A fog bell, weighing three 
thousand one hundred and thirty-six pounds, is placed 
on the edge of the bluff. Next to the islands of Santa 
Barbara Channel, Point Concepcion is the most promi¬ 
nent and interesting feature between San Francisco and 
the peninsula of Lower California. . . . Point Concep¬ 
cion was discovered by Cabrillo in 1542, and called Cape 
Galera. . . . The larger mass of the great Japan warm 
stream that reaches the American coast about latitude 
fifty degrees, sweeps southward along the shores with an 
average breadth of three or four hundred miles, and a 
rate of about sixteen miles per day. ... On March 24, 
1 815, the brig I* orester, of London, . . . only three hun¬ 
dred and fifty miles southwest by west from Point Con¬ 
cepcion, rescued three dying men (the captain and two 
sailors) on a Japanese junk that had drifted for seventeen 
months across the Pacific. . . . Two miles east of Point 
Concepcion is the anchorage of El Coxo. This anchor¬ 
age is better than at Santa Barbara, and the kelp is not so 
compact. . . . The first headland to the northward of 
Point Concepcion is Point Arguello, distance twelve 
miles.’’ The steamship Yankee Blade struck some rocks 
near here October 1, 1854, and four hundred and fifteen 


ALONG THE COAST. 


293 


persons perished. Three miles from here, on the Espado 
Ranch, are some hot sulphur springs. Eight miles north 
of Point Arguello the Santa Ynez River empties into the 
sea. 

A short distance north is Point Purissima, where the 
Lompoc wharf is located. 

Nineteen miles north of Point Arguello is Point Sal, 
at the extremity of a prominent cape. There is an im¬ 
portant wharf here. 

Partially sheltered by Point Sal is the “ chute land¬ 
ing," of which the following is a description: 

“ From the road which encircles the face of the cliff there is 
built out a wharf, about one hundred and fifty feet long, which 
projects over the sea forty feet, at an elevation above the surface 
of the water of about eighty feet. At the outer extremity of this 
wharf a framework is erected, in which a slide, which works ver¬ 
tically, is placed. From a firm anchorage in the rocks of the cliff 
a wire cable, about three fourths of an inch in diameter, stretches 
over this slide, and about six hundred feet out to sea, to a buoy 
firmly anchored on the bottom. The slide on the frame serves to 
elevate or lower the cable. Upon this cable is suspended perma¬ 
nently a traveler, which works easily back and forth upon it by 
means of nicely adjusted sheaves. To this traveler is suspended 
cages of various sorts, depending upon the nature of the material 
to be transported. An engine upon the wharf furnishes all needed 
motive power. The method of operation is as follows: The slide 
in the framework being lowered and the cable being coiled away 
on the wharf, a schooner approaches seeking to be unloaded. 
She passes inside the cable buoy, laying with side to the wharf. 
From her, cables are run out in four directions to buoys and fast¬ 
enings in the rocks, and the vessel firmly secured. The end of 
the wire cable is taken on a rowboat and carried out to and over 
the schooner and to a buoy beyond, where it is securely made fast. 
The engine now starts up and raises the slide, which, carrying up 
the cable,, takes up all undesirable slack. The traveler and a cage 
or cages is run down to the ship, loaded, and at once hauled back 
by means of a rope attached to it and to the drum of the engine. 
When it is drawn up a few feet above the end of the wharf, the 


294 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


load is deposited on a tramway car, which a horse hauls to the 
mainland, where the car is unloaded, and whence it goes back 
for another load. The process is simply reversed in loading ves¬ 
sels. A ton may be carried at one time by the traveler, and alto¬ 
gether the apparatus has proved a great success. 

“ The first grain received for shipment was on July 21, 1880, 
and the first vessel shipped was the schooner Golden Fleece, on 
the 28th of the following September. Thirteen thousand tons of 
grain were shipped the first two years, eight thousand of which 
was in 1881. One million feet of lumber is received annually. 
There is storage capacity for one hundred thousand sacks of 
grain.” 


The Pacific Coast Steamship Company’s vessels make 
triweekly trips between all Southern California ports. 

The Islands of Southern California. 

The reader will observe on the map of California a 
number of islands along the coast of Los Angeles, Ven¬ 
tura, and Santa Barbara Counties. 

San Clemente .—Going north, the first island (see map) 
is San Clemente, about fifty miles southwest of San Pedro 
Bay.* It is twenty and a half miles long, and has an aver¬ 
age width of two and a half miles. Like all of these isl- 
ands, it is high and bold, the southern end being the 
higher. There are several anchorages about the island. 
The indentation on the southeast end of the island is called 
Smuggler’s Cove. 

Messrs. Oscar Macy, L. C. Goodwin, and S. C. Hub- 
bel, of Los Angeles, have a band of sheep on San Cle¬ 
mente. Twice a year they send over shearers. Between 
these sheep-shearing times there is but one man on the 
island, and he has been there in charge of the sheep nearly 
twenty years. Annually he comes to Los Angeles and 
draws his year’s salary; he then lives like a titled de- 


* The topographical statements are from the Coast Pilot of California. 



SANTA CATALINA. 


295 


bauchee for a week, and goes back to his solitary island 
life without a dollar. This island is quite barren, and the 
sheep get a precarious existence. It was discovered by 
Cabrillo in 1542, and named San Salvador, after one of 
his vessels. The present name was given by Vizcaino in 
1602. 

Santa Catalina ( Cat-ayc-lcc-nah ).—Twenty miles north 
of San Clemente is Santa Catalina Island, twenty-three 
miles long, with an average breadth of four miles in the 
southern part, and two miles to the northern. It rises to 
a height of three thousand feet, and is remarkable for the 
great transverse break or depression, five miles from the 
northern end, running partly through it, and forming 
a cove or anchorage on each side. The land connecting 
these is very low, say not over thirty feet; but the hills 
rise up on each side two or three thousand feet, and when 
sighted from the north or south, the whole appears like 
two very high islands. 

The harbor on the southern side is eighteen and a half 
miles from San Pedro. There is also a safe anchorage 
and harbor on the northern side. There are several other 
fair harbors on the coast opposite the mainland. There 
are a number of pretty elevated valleys, several mineral 
springs, and wells of good water. 

James Lick bought this island in 1864 of the United 
States Government for $12,000. In 1874 his heirs tried 
to sell it for $1,000,000, but failed. In 1887 George R. 
Sliatto, of Los Angeles, bought it for $225,000. A few 
years ago it was purchased by the Banning Brothers, of 
Wilmington and Los Angeles, who have made it the most 
popular summer resort on the Pacific coast. This island 
was a popular summer resort for Californians years ago. 
Although there were no accommodations whatever, yet 
thousands of people went over and camped in order to 
enjoy the benefits of the climate and bathing, and the 
pleasures of fishing. There are many wild goats on the 



Solitude Canon, Catalina Island 























SANTA BAT BAT A ISLAND. 


297 


south side of the island, that give rare game for amateur 
Nimrods. The water along the northeast shore is remark¬ 
ably warm, and people who get chilled on the mainland 
bathe here with pleasure. Boating is a delightful pastime. 
The water is always calm, and so clear that hsh, mosses, 
and pebbles can be distinctly seen many feet below the 
surface. The island has evidently at one time been dense- 
ly populated, and numerous earthen pots, stone weapons, 
and bones are to be found in the mountains. Catalina is 
plainly visible from Los Angeles, forty miles away. 

There are several comfortable hotels, and many cot¬ 
tages and tents which can be rented. A good orchestra 
performs daily. Roads have been built over the island. 
Steamships make several trips daily from San Pedro and 
Redondo, connecting with Los Angeles trains. During 
the past season as many as five thousand people have been 
on the island at one time. It is the proper thing with Cali- 
fonians to spend two weeks every summer in the swim 
at Catalina. It was discovered by Cabrillo in 1542, and 
named La Victoria, after one of his vessels. It received 
its present name from Vizcaino in December, 1602, 
when it was thickly settled by a people reported to 
in 1542, and named La Victoria, after one of his vessels. 
It received its present name from Vizcaino in December, 
1602, when it was thickly settled by a people reported to 
be very ingenious, especially in pilfering. Father Ascen- 
cion, who accompanied this expedition, describes a tem¬ 
ple to the sun, found near the two harbors, with images 
and idols. 

Tourists will find a visit to this island novel, interest¬ 
ing, and pleasant. The round trip from Los Angeles, and 
twenty-four hours at the hotel, costs about five dollars. 

Santa Barbara Island. —Twenty-three miles northwest 
of Catalina is Santa Barbara Island. The extent of the 
island does not exceed two miles of shore line; its eleva¬ 
tion at the highest part is about five hundred feet, and the 


298 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


top has an area of thirty acres covered with soil, but no 
water is found, and not a vestige of wood. 

Island of San Nicolas .—This island is most distant from 
the coast, and the driest and most sterile of all these isl¬ 
ands. It is about six hundred feet high, eight miles long, 
three and a half miles wide, with twenty-two miles of shore 
line. It is sixty-seven miles west of San Pedro. 

Island of Anacapa .—This is, in fact, a curiously-formed 
group of three islands, their entire length being five miles. 
The west end of Anacapa is a peak nine hundred and thir¬ 
ty feet high. This is separated from the middle island 
by a gap ten feet wide, through which boats can pass. 

The gap separating the middle island from the east¬ 
ern islands is over two hundred yards wide, but is so full 
of rocks that it is impassable for boats. Anacapa is nine 
and a fourth miles from Plueneme and twenty-eight miles 
from Santa Barbara. There is not a drop of fresh water, 
but sheep and goats thrive on the dews that cover the 
island every night. It is a great resort for the seal, sea 
lion, and formerly the otter, but the latter have been 
nearly all killed off. The sea lions are killed for their oil. 
A full-grown male yields about eight gallons. It was on 
this island that the steamship Winfield Scott ran ashore 
during a dense fog at midnight, December 2, 1853, in calm 
weather. 

Island of Santa Cruz .—This island is the largest of the 
channel group, and lies broad off the coast opposite Santa 
Barbara at a distance of twenty miles. It is twenty-one 
miles long and has an average width of four miles, while 
its shore line is not less than fifty-three miles. The island 
is bold, and about one thousand seven hundred feet in 
height. 

On the northern side of the island there is a roadstead 
called “ Prisoners Harbor,” which is at the opening of a 
valley where wood and water can be obtained. Almost 
all kinds of grain and fruit are raised here. The owners 


ISLAND OF SANTA CRUZ. 


2 99 


of the island have about forty thousand sheep feeding in 
its valleys. Mrs. Otis, staff correspondent of the Los An¬ 
geles Daily Times, in a recent letter to that journal, de¬ 
scribes a visit to the Santa Cruz Island, from which the 
following extracts are taken: 

• •••••••• 

“ It was seven o’clock when we went down to the pretty sail¬ 
boat, the Geneva, owned and handled by Captain Larco, the well- 
known Italian fisherman of Santa Barbara, a man large-hearted, 
genial, kindly, who has had adventures enough to fill a volume of 
romance. 

“ Soon after noon we came in sight of a school of whales, seven 
in all, two of which appeared to be making directly for our boat. 
Then commenced a lively pounding of oars and a drumming with 
whatever would make a noise upon the boat’s bottom, and it was 
not long before these monsters of the deep disappeared from our 
view in another direction. 

“ When within a short distance from the shore the sea grew 
comparatively still, and with well-filled sails we neared the pro¬ 
tecting walls of the little harbor, near the center of the island of 
Santa Cruz. To this quiet harbor, with its unruffled waters, our 
captain had given the name of ‘ Lady Harbor,’ ‘ because,’ he said, 
‘ it be so quiet and smooth.’ The aptness can not fail to be ap¬ 
parent. 

“ On the rocks great sea lions lay; from the waters scores of 
them lifted their heads on our approach. A shot from a rifle in 
the hands of one of our number, and they leaped from the rocks 
into the sea. Another shot, and the air was filled with their almost 
human cries, which echoed from every craggy height and were 
flung back to us from the stony cliffs. 

“ As a pleasure resort these islands are full of interest, and it is 
surprising to me that long ago provision was not made for regu¬ 
lar trips to and from the islands for the accommodation of tour¬ 
ists and others at Santa Barbara.” 


300 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


Santa Rasa Island .—This is the middle island of the 
group off the coast of Point Concepcion and Santa Bar¬ 
bara. It is fifteen miles long and ten miles wide, with a 
shore line of forty-two miles. There is a good passage 
for ships between Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa with a 
width of five miles, and one between it and San Miguel 
with a width of four miles. The outline of the island is 
bold. It is not so high as Santa Cruz, but attains an ele¬ 
vation of eleven hundred and seventy-two feet. 

J. Ross Browne, in the Overland Monthly, says: 
“ Numerous springs, having their source in the principal 
ridge, furnish a sufficient water supply for stock or agri¬ 
cultural purposes. Many parts of the island are conspicu¬ 
ous for their picturesque beauty.” The sale of wool from 
Santa Rosa in one year amounted to over one hundred 
thousand dollars. Attention has been attracted to this 
island lately by the report of a tragical murder of a China¬ 
man by Alexander More, the owner of the island. 

Island of San Miguel .—This is the most western of 
the Santa Barbara Channel Islands. It is seven and a half 
miles long and two and a half miles wide. Cuyler Harbor 
is on the northeast side of the island. It is twenty-five 
miles from Point Concepcion. A sea lion was killed here 
in July, 1879, that was fourteen feet long, and weighed 
thirty-five hundred pounds. 

San Miguel was discovered by Juan Rodriguez Ca- 
brillo in 1542. Most authorities say that Cabrillo, after 
visiting Santa Barbara and other points on the mainland, 
returned to San Miguel and died January 5, 1543, al¬ 
though the California Coast Pilot doubts the statement, 
and thinks it more probable that he died on the Santa 
Cruz Island, where he could obtain water, and oak wood 
for repairs. Be this as it may, no historian has yet ex¬ 
pressed any doubt about his death. 

Abalone shells are found on the rocks along all of 
these islands. They have to be pried off with a crowbar, 


SANTA BARBARA HOT SPRINGS. 


301 


and it is related of a Chinaman that he attempted to pull 
one off a rock with his fingers and was caught in the trap 
and drowned by the rising tide. Many tons of these shells 
are worked up for sale as ornaments and curios by a Los 
Angeles house. The meat of the abalone is dried in large 
quantities by the Chinese and shipped to China, where it 
is grated and used in soups. 

Mineral Springs of Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. 

Santa Barbara Hot Springs. —Dr. H. M. Briggs says: * 

“ The hot sulphur springs of Santa Barbara are situated at the 
head of a deep canon, about five miles to the northeast of the town 
of Santa Barbara, at an elevation of fourteen hundred and fifty 
feet above the level of the sea. They number in all seven, and 
seem to be of two distinct varieties. Those nearest the head of 
the canon escape from crevices in the rock, and are four in num¬ 
ber, all appearing to have the same properties, the most sensible 
of which are free sulphur and sulphureted hydrogen; their tem¬ 
perature, 114 0 Fahr. Another spring is situated about one hun¬ 
dred yards off, in a westerly direction from the first mentioned— 
temperature, 117 0 Fahr. Its principal constituent is sulphate of 
alumina, evident from the thick incrustation of this salt on the 
under surface of the rock beneath which this water escapes; it 
also tastes strongly of sulphate of iron, and is said to contain soda 
and potash, and a trace of arsenic. The two remaining springs 
are located in a branch canon, about one hundred rods in a north¬ 
erly direction from the last one mentioned, and appear to pos¬ 
sess the same qualities, with the exception of the temperature, 
which is only 112 0 Fahr. No thorough analysis of these mineral 
springs has ever been made, at least in our time. 

“ It is said that while this country was in possession of the 
King of Spain a corps of scientific men was sent out to this coast, 
commissioned, among other things, to test the properties of the 
several mineral springs known to abound here, and that in their 
report they pronounced the Santa Barbara Hot Sulphur Springs 


* Mineral Springs of the United States and Canada, by George E. 
Walton, M. D. D. Appleton and Company, New York, 1883 . 





302 


CALIFORNIA OF TIIE SOUTH. 


to be the best and most medicinal, and superior to any other in 
California for the cure of many diseases. Whether they came to 
this conclusion from actual analysis, or from simply witnessing 
their effect, is not known. Certain it is that at the present day 
they are becoming famous for their curative effects in many cases 
of rheumatism, paralysis, various diseases of syphilitic origin, 
and skin diseases generally; and from a persistent use of the 
waters (drinking and bathing) many individuals have been cured 
of such affections.”—March 22, 1872. 

The late Hon. Oliver P. Morton, United States Sena¬ 
tor from Indiana, spent some time at these springs in 
1874. They are located at an altitude of fourteen hun¬ 
dred and fifty feet. 

Bulletin 32 of the United States Geological Survey 
gives the analysis of these springs as follows: 


Santa Barbara Hot Springs. 


Constituents. 

No. 1, main spring, 
Hot Springs Canon. 

No. 2, main spring, 
side canon. 

Sodium carbonate. 

Parts in 100,000. 

29.6 

5-0 

8.7 

Trace. 

4.2 

Trace. 

< i 

i i 

Parts in 100,000. 

24.8 

Trace. 
r 7-6 

Trace. 

6.0 

Trace. 

< < 

t < 

Sodium sulphate. 

Sodium chloride. 

Potassa. 

Silica. 

Carbonic acid. 

Sulphohydric acid. 

Calcium. 

Totals. 

47-5 

33.4 



San Marcos Hot and Cold Sulphur Springs .—These 
springs are situated in Mountain Glen, a picturesque 
canon seven miles northeast. There are somewhat primi¬ 
tive but very comfortable accommodations for guests, 
who can come within a short distance of the springs by 
the daily stage from Santa Barbara. 

Las Cruces Hot Springs are forty-two miles from San- 





















MAT1LIJA HOT SPRINGS. 


303 


ta Barbara, near the Gaviota Pass. They have quite a 
local reputation for curing skin diseases and rheumatism. 

Espado Hot Sulphur Springs are three miles from 
Point Arguello. 

Matilija Hot Springs are the most noted of any Ven¬ 
tura County springs. There are several of them in Ma¬ 
tilija Canon, fifteen miles from San Buenaventura and six 
miles from Nordhoft. Arrangements for transportation 
can be made with the Ojai Valley stage that leaves San 
Buenaventura daily. 

There are comfortable accommodations and bathing 
facilities for a limited number of invalids. 

Dr. R. E. Curran, of San Buenaventura, sends the 
following analysis of the Matilija springs water. The 
analysis of Matilija spring is copied from that made by 
J. W. Clarke, chief chemist of the United States Geologi¬ 
cal Survey: 

Report of Analysis No. 727.— Water from Matilija Hot Spring , 

received from Dr. S. Bowers. 

Parts in 100,000. 


Potassium chloride (KC 1 ). 62.2 

Sodium chloride (NaCl). 1,387.6 

Magnesium chloride (MgCl 2 ). 6.8 

Magnesium sulphate (MgSOp. 7-3 

Calcium sulphate (CaSOP. 16.0 

Calcium carbonate (CaCCM. 96.5 

Calcium silicate (CaSiOs). 62.9 

Silica (SiO a ). 8.8 

Total. 1,648.1 


Trace of hydrogen sulphide (H 2 S) reported July 11, 1887. 

The following is an analysis of water from one of the 
cold-water mineral springs on the Temescal Rancho, in 
the eastern part of Ventura County: 


Carbonate of soda. 0.771 

Carbonate of lime.o. 181 














304 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


Carbonate of magnesia. 0.054 

Sulphate of soda. 0.030 

Sulphate of lime,. .. 0.003 

Sulphate of magnesia. 0.764 

Sulphide of sodium .0.203 

Chloride of sodium.3.218 

Chloride of lithium.A trace. 

Hydrogen sulphide (free). 2.046 


There are cold sulphur springs about ten miles from 
San Buenaventura, on the Ojai Valley road. 

Bulletin 32, United States Geological Survey, reports 
sulphur springs on the west side of San Fernando Peak, 
Ventura County. 










123 


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APPENDIX. 


LAND AND PRODUCTS. 

It should be understood that the quotations for planting and 
cultivating orchards given in the following pages are subject to 
modificaiion. The price of trees varies from year to year, and even 
during the same season, like that of any other product. The cost 
of preparing land depends very largely upon the character of the 
tract, whether it is level or uneven, clear, or covered with brush. 
The figures given must therefore be considered as only approxi¬ 
mate. 

In regard to the profits of horticulture, little is said here, as it is 
almost impossible to give figures of definite value on this subject. 
Too much of a misleading character has been printed already, 
arousing false hopes and resulting in disappointment. The profits 
of horticulture in Southern California are, under favorable condi¬ 
tions, very large—larger, probably, than those which are derived 
from the products of the soil in any other part of the world. They 
depend on so many varying conditions—such as the character of 
the soil, the care bestowed upon the orchard, the facilities of trans¬ 
portation, the taste displayed in packing, and the condition of the 
market—that it is, as stated, impossible to give definite figures that 
are applicable in every case, or can be taken as a rule. In a gen¬ 
eral way, it may be said that, under favorable conditions, a citrus 
orchard should, within from five to seven years of planting, yield a 
net profit of from one hundred to two hundred dollars per acre, 
increasing steadily from that time, and that a deciduous orchard 
should, within from three to five years of planting, net the owner 



3°6 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


from fifty to one hundred dollars per acre, the profits also increas¬ 
ing steadily as the trees attain greater age. 

The remarkable prosperity of Southern California, at a time 
when almost every section of the United States is suffering from 
depression, is mainly due to the character of its soil and climate, 
which permit the raising in large quantities of valuable crops that 
can be grown in few other sections of the country. It is only about 
a dozen years since hides and wool and tallow were the principal 
exports of the county. During this brief time the development of 
our agricultural resources has been truly wonderful. 

Horticulture. 

First in importance among the horticultural products of this 
section is the orange. The profits of orange-growing are large. 
The expenses of planting a grove and bringing it to bearing are 
considerable. First-class orange land, with ample water, costs 
from two hundred to four hundred dollars an acre. Orange 
trees planted on low, cold spots may do well for a few years, but 
when an extra cold spell comes they will suffer. Los Angeles 
County has about one fourth of the orange trees in Southern Cali¬ 
fornia. The fruit comes on the market from January to April, 
being later than the Florida crop. The most popular variety is the 
Washington Navel, which brings the highest price of any orange 
in the markets of the United States. The seedling sells for less 
money, but produces larger crops. The Mediterranean Sweet, St. 
Michael, Valencia Late, and Malta Blood are also largely grown. 
The best soil for oranges is a deep, rich, sandy, or gravelly loam, 
well drained. The best seasons for planting are spring and early 
summer, when the buds are starting. Budded trees are generally 
planted twenty-four feet apart, seedlings twenty-four to twenty-eight 
feet. Budded trees are considered in profitable bearing at five 
years from planting, and seedlings at eight. The crops increase 
steadily for at least fifteen years. A seedling at eight years will 
yield from three to-five boxes of fruit and at fifteen years from ten 
to fifteen boxes. The orange tree lives and bears for centuries. 
The cost of trees is much less than it was a few years ago. The 
following estimate is made by a leading nurseryman of the cost of 


AT TEND IX. 


307 

planting a budded orange grove of ten acres and caring for it three 
years: 


Trees (85 to an acre) at 35 cents. $297.00 

Preparing land and setting. 90.00 

Care per year, $15 per acre. 450.00 


Cost at end of three years.$837.00 


One man can care for twenty acres of bearing orange orchard. 
The necessary experience is easily acquired. 

The chief orange-growing sections of Southern California are 
the San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys, and Whittier, of Los Angeles 
County, Riverside, and Redlands. 

The lemon has been rapidly coming into favor among Los An¬ 
geles fruit growers during the past two or three years, since a 
proper method of curing the fruit has been introduced. Previously 
the fruit was allowed to ripen on the tree, and the skin in conse¬ 
quence became thick, causing an opinion to prevail among dealers 
that Southern California lemons were ‘‘no good.” What has been 
said in regard to the orange applies also generally to the lemon. 
The tree requires a large supply of water. The cost of planting a 
lemon orchard is about the same as that of the orange. The tree 
begins to bear a little earlier, and the fruit can be gathered almost 
every month in the year. The Lisbon is the greatest favorite, fol¬ 
lowed closely by the Villa Franca and the Eureka. The curing of 
the lemon is a simple operation, consisting in storing the fruit on 
trays in a dark, well-ventilated room. They may be kept after 
being cured in this manner for six months or more. The fruit is 
generally supposed to do better near the ocean, although some pre¬ 
fer it farther inland. San Diego County is making a great specialty 
of the lemon. 

No branch of horticulture has made greater progress during the 
past couple of years than olive culture. The olive can be grown in 
almost any part of Southern California. Trees are grown from cut¬ 
tings taken in December or January and transferred to the open 
ground the following year after they are well rooted. Land suitable 
for olive culture can be bought at from fifty dollars to one hundred 
dollars an acre. The young trees for a ten-acre tract should not 







CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH 


308 

cost more than one hundred and fifty dollars. The cost of planting 
an acre is somewhat less than with citrus fruits. Many imported 
varieties have been introduced. Some of these begin to bear within 
three years of planting. In about seven years the yield should be 
at least a gallon of oil to the tree. As much as two gallons of ber¬ 
ries have been gathered from trees four years old. The yield goes 
on increasing for an indefinite time and the trees live for centuries. 
There is a good demand for the product, both in the shape of 
pickled olives and oil, and it will be a long time before the supply 
will equal the demand. 

The fig has come into more general cultivation during the past 
few years, since the imported white varieties have superseded the 
black fig, which was planted by the Mission fathers. The fig bears 
very early and yields immense crops. It should be planted thiity to 
forty feet apart, which permits the culture of berries and root crops 
between rows until it is six or seven years of age. The tree bears 
a fair crop the third year and a full crop after the fifth year. A 
sandy loam is the best soil for the fig. Cuttings about six inches 
long are planted in sand and transplanted into nursery rows after 
rooting. The next year they can be planted in the orchard. The 
culture of this fruit is still in its infancy, as the method of drying it 
successfully is still in an experimental stage. There is a large home 
market for the product, imports from Smyrna exceeding five hun¬ 
dred thousand dollars a year. The cost of planting a fig orchard is 
about the same as that of an olive orchard. The tree is success¬ 
fully grown throughout the county. 

California prunes are rapidly displacing the imported article in 
Eastern markets. The fruit is largely grown in the Pomona and 
San Gabriel Valleys. The prune grows best in heavy sedimentary 
soil. Trees are planted from twenty to twenty four feet apart. 
The wider distance is better. After picking, the prunes are dipped 
in weak lye, dried, and graded according to their size. Land adapted 
to prunes can be bought at from fifty to one hundred and fifty 
dollars per acre. Trees can be purchased to-day at ten dollars per 
hundred. A grower estimates the following expenses: Preparing 
ground, $5 per acre ; planting, $275 per acre; care and cultivation, 
$7.50 per acre; pruning, $1 the second year, $2 the third year, and 
$4 to $5 the fourth year; spraying, 75 cents the second year, $1 to 


APPENDIX. 


309 

$1.25 the third, and $4 to $5 the fourth. The profits of prune cul¬ 
ture have been very large. 

1 he apricot is a specialty of this section, which flourishes in few 
other parts of the world. The fruit is largely canned and dried. 
At four years from the planting the trees should yield from fifty to 
seventy-five pounds, and in six years about two hundred pounds. Sixty 
to eighty trees are planted to an acre. The cost of trees, preparing 
ground for orchard, and care after planting is about the same as for 
prunes. 

The peach grows to perfection in Southern California, and the 
different varieties are gathered in great quantities during four months 
of the year. The trees bear very early, frequently yielding a con¬ 
siderable quantity of fruit the second year after setting out. Ten 
acres of seven-year-old trees have produced forty-seven tons of 
fruit. Expenses for planting are the same as for apricots and 
prunes. 

The nectarine, a delicious fruit, grows under similar conditions 
to the apricot. 

Apples do well in the higher mountain regions and near the 
coast. Good prices are always obtained for apples in this section. 
A yield of twenty-five tons from three acres of ten-year-old trees in 
Los Angeles County is reported, the fruit selling at three cents a 
pound. Apple trees one year from the bud are worth at present 
ten dollars per hundred. Expenses for planting and caring are the 
same as for other deciduous fruits, 

Pears of many varieties succeed well. The Bartlett is a special 
favorite, and is shipped by the car load in a fresh state. Pear trees 
are worth fifteen dollars per hundred. Expenses the same as for 
other deciduous fruits. The trees are quite hardy in this section. 

Many varieties of the grape are grown in this county, for table 
use and the manufacture of wines and brandies. Raisin grapes are 
raised along the foothills in the northern and eastern parts of the 
county with fair success, where the air is dry. For table use the 
Black Hamburg, Muscat, Champagne, and Flaming Tokay are 
favorite varieties. Some varieties ripen as late as November. For 
raisins the Muscat of Alexandria is grown. Usually about six hun¬ 
dred and eighty cuttings are planted to the acre. The cost of 
planting, irrigating, and two years’ caring of a raisin vineyard is 


3io 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH 


about twenty-five dollars per acre. In three years the vineyard 
should yield fifty twenty-pound boxes of raisins per acre, in four 
years one hundred and fifty boxes, in five years two hundred boxes, 
and after that a small increase. The cost of cultivating per acre is 
fifteen dollars ; curing and packing, forty cents per box. There are 
several large wineries in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino 
Counties, notably in the San Gabriel Valley, where wine and brandy 
of excellent quality are made. 

The so-called English walnut is largely grown in Southern Cali¬ 
fornia, the headquarters of the industry being at Rivera, just south 
of Los Angeles City, from which point one hundred and thirty car 
loads of nuts were shipped last season. The tree needs deep, rich, 
naturally moist soil. The soft-shell variety, recently introduced, will 
bear a good crop in six years after planting. About twenty to 
twenty-five trees are planted to the acre. At maturity the trees 
should yield from eight to ten dollars worth of nuts each. Good 
walnut land is worth about one hundred dollars an acre. Other 
crops can be grown between the trees for several years after plant¬ 
ing. The expense of setting out an orchard and caring for it does 
not differ materially from that of deciduous fruits. 

The almond has not been so extensively cultivated in Los Ange¬ 
les as in some other counties of the State. Of late a number of 
orchards have been planted in the Antelope Valley and are doing re¬ 
markably well, bearing early and large crops. The tree requires a 
light, well-drained soil and location removed from coast winds or 
fogs. The planting, cultivation, etc., are almost identical with the 
peach, which this tree very closely resembles in character. The 
tree bears in four years from planting. 

Cherries have been little planted as yet, but they have been 
found to succeed in the more elevated valleys. The retail price 
rarely falls below ten cents per pound. 

The guava is a delicious fruit, with a flavor like a cross between 
the strawberry and the black currant. It grows on bushes and has 
been hitherto generally planted between orchard trees. Guava 
jelly, made from the yellow variety, is celebrated the world over. 

Strawberries and blackberries bear enormous crops in Southern 
California during many months of the year. They are sometimes 
grown between orchard trees. Around Azusa, in the San Gabriel 


APPENDIX. 


3 " 

Valley, there are over a hundred and fifty acres of strawberries, and 
the shipments last season amounted to five hundred thousand 
pounds. Very fine berries are also raised between Los Angeles 
and Redondo, in the vicinity of Gardena, a few miles from the 
o:ean. Berries are shipped to all parts of the country by express. 

Among other fruits that are grown here on a limited scale are the 
Japanese persimmon, the loquat, or Japanese plum, and the pome¬ 
granate. The banana ripens in a few sheltered localities. It is not 
grown for the market. Melons yield enormous crops and fruit from 
early summer until late in the winter. Melons weighing a hundred 
pounds have been raised, and those weighing fifty pounds are com¬ 
mon. 

Potatoes, onions, cabbage, cauliflower, and celery are now 
shipped East in large quantities by the car load. The raising of 
winter vegetables in the frostless belts of the county is a profitable 
business. String beans, green peas, tomatoes, Chile peppers, and 
other vegetables are shipped at Christmas to the northern part of 
the State and to the East, commanding high prices, as much as 
thirty-five cents per pound being paid for string beans in San Fran¬ 
cisco. 

Pumpkins have been raised here that weigh three hundred and 
fourteen pounds ; beets that weigh as much as the average man ; 
radishes that tip the scales at seven pounds; mustard stalks over 
thirteen feet high, and elderberry “ bushes ” with trunks two feet 
in diameter. Sufficient peanuts to supply the home market are 
grown. 

The beautiful pampas plume is cultivated and sold in large 
quantities for ornamental purposes. A lady near Whittier has 
twenty-eight acres of these plumes, grown between walnut trees. 

A promising branch of the horticultural industry’ is the growing 
of seeds for the Eastern nurseryman, who finds seeds grown in this 
section superior to all others. Ladies have been very successful in 
this business. 

Flowers of every variety grow profusely in the open air through¬ 
out the year. Several small attempts have been made to establish 
perfume factories, but the business has never been undertaken on a 
large scale. The shipment of cut flowers might be a profitable in¬ 
dustry. 


312 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


Although many of the grain fields of Southern California have 
been transformed into orchards, a large quantity of fine barley and 
wheat are still grown, new sections having been brought under cul¬ 
tivation in the northern part of the county. The quality of Southern 
California wheat is very fine. The varieties raised are principally 
White Russian, Defiance, and Scotch Fife. Some Australian wheat 
is also raised in San Fernando Valley. Cargoes of wheat are shipped 
from San Pedro and Port Los Angeles direct to Europe. A yield 
of thirteen hundred pounds to the acre is considered a good aver¬ 
age. Wheat land is often rented, the man who takes the land pay¬ 
ing from one fourth to one fifth of the crop, according to whether 
the land is bare or has buildings. 

Barley is an important crop. In this section it takes the place 
of oats for feeding horses and cattle. Wheat and barley are never 
irrigated here. 

Large quantities of wheat and barley are raised to be cut for hay 
while green. After a crop of barley hay has been harvested, yield¬ 
ing perhaps three tons to the acre, another crop of corn or potatoes 
is often raised on the same land. 

Southern California corn is “hard to beat.” The stalks some¬ 
times grow to a height of over twenty feet, and a hundred bushels 
to the acre is not an extraordinary yield. Egyptian corn is grown 
as a fodder plant and as food for chickens. 

Alfalfa, which is largely grown for hay, is a most valuable 
forage plant. Once planted, it needs little care, except plenty of 
water for irrigation after each cutting. Two crops may be cut the 
first year, and after the third year from three to six or more crops, 
yielding from one to two tons to the acre at each cutting. Animals 
are pastured in the fields and also given rations of cut hay. 

Sugar beets have been raised with great success at Chino, in 
San Bernardino County, and it is probable that the culture of this 
crop will soon be introduced in Los Angeles County, where much 
of the soil is thoroughly adapted to the purpose. The season for 
making sugar here lasts four months or more, against fifty to sixty 
days in Europe. 


APPENDIX. 


3 1 3 


Live Stock, Dairy, and Poultry. 

Cattle are no longer raised in vast herds in this county, as they 
were in former years, the land having become too valuable for that 
purpose. Southern California now imports large quantities of cattle 
from other sections. The same is true in regard to sheep, which have 
been driven farther and farther back as cultivation has proceeded. 

A great impetus has been given to the raising of hogs through 
the establishing in Los Angeles of a large pork-packing factory. 
Hogs eat alfalfa readily and are generally “ finished off ” with corn 
or barley. The greater part of the ham and bacon consumed here 
is still imported. From six to seven cents is paid for hogs on the 
foot at the Los Angeles packing house. 

The dairy business has been greatly extended during the past 
few years. Good prices are always paid for butter and cheese. 
There are several cheese factories and room for-more. An acre of 
alfalfa will supply four cows with green food the year round. 

Poultry raising offers great inducements to industrious men of 
moderate means. Poultry does well here when given the same at¬ 
tention which it receives in the East. The price of fresh eggs rare¬ 
ly falls below twenty-five cents a dozen, while chickens bring six 
dollars a dozen. 

The honev raised in this section is celebrated the world over, 

r 

being shipped by the car load to the East and Europe. The hills 
abound with flowers and shrubs, from which the bees extract the 
honey. The business pays well in average seasons. The work is 
light and is especially adapted to men of moderate means who are 
in search of health as well as a living. The increase of swarms is 
very rapid. 

Some effort has been made in the direction of silk culture, and 
silk of good quality has been produced. An exhibit of silk from 
this section has been made at the World’s Fair. 

Prices of Land. 

Prices of land in Southern California are mainly influenced by 
water supply and distance from towns and communication. Land 
adapted to growing grain, root crops, alfalfa, and deciduous fruits, 


314 CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH . 

without irrigation, may be had at from thirty to one hundred 
dollars per acre; land with water for irrigation, adapted to all 
varieties of deciduous fruits, at from one hundred to two hun¬ 
dred dollars, and first-class citrus land, with ample water right, 
at from two hundred to four hundred dollars. Good grazing land 
may be had in large quantities, in the mountains, at about ten 
dollars per acre, often with one or more springs. Some of this will 
be rocky and steep, but again there will be arable patches and 
sometimes timber. It should be remembered that the lowest- 
priced land is by no means always the cheapest, judged by what 
it will produce. 

Land is now offered on very easy terms to actual settlers. Some 
may be had occasionally, without any cash payment, except inter¬ 
est, for ten years, on condition that trees are planted and improve¬ 
ments made. In this manner an industrious settler can commence 
with little cash ; but for those who are determined to have low- 
priced land there is still plenty to be found. Back in the mountains 
relinquishments of Government claims, that include some good 
level land, may be bought for a few hundred dollars, sometimes 
with a shanty and other small improvements. The land seeker in 
Southern California should, at the start, abandon the idea of taking 
up Government land. The country has been raked over for such 
land, and what few hills are left are isolated and rugged. Five 
acres of level land with water, near a market, is far preferable to a 
quarter-section of such mountain land, from a financial—and still 
more from a social—standpoint. 

Irrigation. 

A mistaken idea prevails to some extent in the East that farm- 
ing is on]) canied on in Southern California by means of irrigation, 
and that without it crops would be a failure. For all grains and 
winter crops irrigation is not employed. Corn is irrigated in some 
localities, being a summer crop, but is successfully grown in many 
places without irrigation. Upon some lands, after a crop raised 
without irrigation has been harvested, another is raised by means 
of irrigation. On irrigated land, two or three crops a year are fre¬ 
quently raised by alternating barley, hay, corn, and potatoes, or 
other crops. 


APPENDIX. 


315 


Water for irrigation is obtained from rivers, from small moun¬ 
tain streams, and from artesian wells. The old conception of South¬ 
ern California as a waterless land is being rapidly corrected. Tun¬ 
nels are driven into the mountains and water is almost invariably 
struck in varying quantities. At other places mammoth dams have 
been constructed at suitable sites in the mountains, forming reser¬ 
voirs to catch the winter rainfall, which would otherwise rush off to 
the ocean along the water courses, many of which are dry all sum¬ 
mer. On the lowlands, flowing wells are obtained at depths vary¬ 
ing from sixty to two hundred feet or more. They are quickly and 
cheaply bored by machinery. Some of these wells give a very 
large flow. Near Pomona, which is chiefly supplied with water 
from artesian wells, are over one hundred wells, of depths ranging 
from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and eighty feet. 

If the farmer has an aitesian supply on a high portion of his 
tract he is, of course, independent as to water. Otherwise the fur¬ 
nishing of water for irrigation, which involves a large outlay for 
tunneling, piping, and constructing reservoirs, is undertaken by 
companies. A recent Legislature passed a beneficent law known 
as the “ Wright Act,” permitting districts to organize and issue 
bonds, which can be sold for the purpose of constructing an irri¬ 
gating system. 

Where land is purchased in an irrigated section, the right to so 
much water—generally one inch to ten acres—is purchased with 
the land. Where the water right is purchased, the expense for 
keeping pipes and ditches in order, etc., runs from fifty cents to two 
dollars and a half per acre a year. The cost of water to purchasers 
per acre per year, in cases where the landowners do not own the 
water, varies from two dollars and a half to twelve dollars. 

An Unbiased Opinion. 

In an article on Land and Products, written for the first edition 
of this work by General Nelson A. Miles, U. S. A., who was for¬ 
merly in command of the military department whose headquarters 
has since been removed from Los Angeles, that distinguished officer 
says : 

“ That Southern California will have an enormous population in 
the near future, goes without saying. With her immense resources, 



GENERAL NELSON A. MILES, U. S. A. 


































APPENDIX 


3 17 


being the only part of the United States that has a climate almost 
frostless, which permits of the growth of all the fruits, berries, vege¬ 
tables, grapes, and nuts known, she will be called upon not only to 
supply the home consumption, most of which has been imported 
heretofore, but finally make it an important item in the export trade 
of our country by supplying nations with our canned fruits, wines, 
and raisins. That it will do so at some future day is not as wild a 
prediction as one would suppose, for at the present time the canned 
fruits of California are very much sought after in England, France, 
and other countries, where they obtain higher prices than the native 
product.” 

Petroleum in Southern California. 

The petroleum and asphaltum supply of Southern California are 
among the largest and richest in the world. The peculiar feature 
of the oil wells of this section is their permanence. When oil is 
once struck in a well the proprietor can trust in its continuance. 
Petroleum and asphaltum were discovered here by the first Spanish 
settlers more than a century ago, but no attention was paid to the 
oil, while asphaltum was melted and used as roofing for the adobe 
houses of the settlers. The oil region of Southern California ex¬ 
tends from the northern part of Santa Barbara County, along the 
coast through that county, thence a few miles inland through Ven¬ 
tura and Los Angeles Counties, a distance of one hundred and sixty 
miles. 

Until the discovery last year of petroleum in paying quantities 
within the limits of Los Angeles city the producing oil wells of 
Southern California were confined to Ventura County, Newhall, in 
the northern part of Los Angeles County, and Puente, twenty miles 
east of Los Angeles. 

Without any doubt the most important thing that has happened 
to Los Angeles since the beginning of the present year has been the 
development of the petroleum industry within the city limits. New 
wells have been sunk almost daily, until at present there are about 
three hundred wells within the city, the daily output of which ap¬ 
proximates three thousand five hundred barrels. 

The recent development in oil boring seems to point more and 
more directly to the probability that the local oil belt extends in a 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


318 

southwesterly and northeasterly direction, from the neighborhood of 
Westlake Park toward the Highland Park region, northeast of the 
city limits. The wells which have been drilled so far south of First 
Street have not been successful, with the exception of a couple of 
wells on the Belmont grounds, $t the westerly end of First Street, 
which would come within the belt indicated from southwest to 
northeast, and it is said that even these wells are not entirely satis¬ 
factory. # 

You can buy oil at the wells, if you will haul it yourself, at as 
low a price as forty cents a barrel, or perhaps even a shade less. 
The regular price of oil, delivered to consumers, may be quoted at 
from sixty-five to seventy-five cents. If, however, you desire to 
make a contract for a year or more, you may find it difficult to ob¬ 
tain oil delivered at the lower figure named above, while in some 
cases contracts have been made at the rate of one dollar a barrel. 
The fact is that at present the facilities for marketing the oil product 
are incomplete, and small producers who find themselves pressed 
for money are forced to dispose of their product at the best price 
they can get. At the same time there are very few among the oil 
men who do not have faith in the future of the market, and this is 
why they refuse to make contracts at the present rate. One pipe line 
has been comoleted, and is in working order. Two other franchises 
for pipe lines have been granted by the Council. What is specially 
needed in the local oil industry at present is a pipe line which will 
act as a common carrier, charging a reasonable rate to deliver oil at 
the tanks. 

At eighty cents a barrel, reckoning three barrels and a half of 
oil to be equal to a ton of coal, the fuel supply of Los Angeles would 
cost only as much as in places where they pay two dollars and eighty 
cents a ton for coal, which would place Los Angeles in the lead 
among the manufacturing cities of the country, as far as the cost of 
fuel is concerned. There are some who estimate that three barrels 
of Los Angeles oil are equivalent to a ton of coal, but even reckon¬ 
ing three and a half barrels, and figuring the cost of oil at one 
dollar, it would be only three dollars and fifty cents per ton for coal, 
which is a price low enough to attract manufacturers from all parts 
of the country. The Terminal Railway is using oil on most of its 
engines. The Southern California Railway is using oil on about 


A PPENDIX . 


319 


twenty per cent of its locomotives, and is taking steps to transform 
the balance into oil-burning engines. A tank steamer is being con¬ 
structed in San Francisco to carry oil from Ventura to that city, and 
as soon as the supply warrants it, a pipe line will be constructed from 
Los Angeles to the ocean, and oil shipped to the northern part of the 
State. In this manner Los Angeles oil could be laid down in San Fran¬ 
cisco at a price which would force the leading manufacturers of that 
city to use it, or they would not be able to compete. In addition to the 
railroad companies mentioned above, the Southern Pacific Company 
has indicated its intention of using oil on their branch lines here and 
in the northern part of the State. The cable and electric railway 
systems of San Francisco have also intimated their willingness to 
use this fuel, and the Coast Steamship Company is preparing to in¬ 
vestigate the question. 

In course of time refineries will undoubtedly come, to work up 
the crude product. One has already been established on a small 
scale in the city, and has met with much success. It is expected 
that before long a distillate will be placed on the market, suitable 
for burning in kitchen ranges, which may be sold at a price that 
will cause it to be generally adopted in place of refined coal oil and 
gasoline. There are quite a number of other useful articles that 
are manufactured from crude petroleum. In the refinery in Santa 
Paula, in Ventura County, more than twenty different articles are 
manufactured, including lubricants, paints, printing ink, and water¬ 
proofing. Such articles can be shipped at a profit to all parts of 
the world, and the demand for them is practically unlimited. 

While the Los Angeles oil is not suitable for illuminating pur¬ 
poses, having an asphalt base instead of a paraffin base, like the 
Pennsylvania oils, it is declared by T experts to be one of the best 
fuel oils that has yet been discovered. It is true that in some of the 
wells the oil is of very low specific gravity, that tends to clog up 
furnaces, but this difficulty can be obviated by mixing with lighter 
oils. In the wells that have recently been drilled at the western 
end of the belt the grade of the oil is considerably higher, and at 
the same time the yield is larger. Experience seems to show that 
the oil in the second, or low'er stratum, which only a few of the 
wells have reached, is of uniformly better quality than that nearer 
the surface. The average depth of the producing wells within the 


320 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


city is about eight hundred and fifty feet. Only a few have been 
drilled to a depth of a thousand feet or more, and these have gen¬ 
erally struck good oil in large quantities. It is evident that the devel¬ 
opment of this kind has but just commenced, and no one can venture 
to prophesy what six months of prospecting may bring forth. One 
fact has been conclusively proved, which is that the local deposit 
must be something more than a mere pocket, as some persons sup¬ 
posed when the oil was first struck. There must, indeed, be a very 
large deposit of oil here to maintain so many wells within a limited 
area, the derricks almost touching each other, within three or four 
blocks of the city—something that has never been attempted before 
in any oil field. 

The importance of this great development to the material pros¬ 
perity of Los Angeles can scarcely be overestimated. From being 
a place where the manufacture of staple articles was rendered diffi¬ 
cult, if not impossible, by the high cost of fuel, coal costing about 
ten dollars per ton, Los Angeles has jumped at one bound to a posi¬ 
tion of equality with the most favored manufacturing cities of the 
country. Already many inquiries have been received from manu¬ 
facturers of the East, who have heard of these developments, and it 
is not too much to predict that the present year will mark the com¬ 
mencement of a manufacturing era in the history of Los Angeles. 
There are some to whom this prospect is not a pleasant one. They 
object to seeing the beautiful City of the Angels defaced by tall 
smokestacks. It should, however, be remarked that the lay of the 
land in Los Angeles is such that a factory section may be located 
veiy easily where it will not inconvenience the leading residence 
sections of the city. The lowlands along the river, near the railroad 
tracks, are destined to become the manufacturing section of Los 
Angeles, and the direction of the prevailing winds is such that any 
fumes f 1 om the factories will be carried away from the west, south¬ 
west, and south, where the chief residence sections are. Then, be¬ 
sides this, with the rapid development of transportation facilities 
through the general introduction of electricity, city residents may 
have a dozen attractive sections to choose from within twenty min¬ 
utes lide of their places of business. Manufacturing brings money, 
and with plenty of money in circulation a majority of the citizens of 
Los Angeles will be in a position to acquire attractive suburban homes. 


APPENDIX. 


321 


RAILWAY TABLES. 


STATIONS ON THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILWAY. 

Distances are given from Los Angeles, with altitude cf stations 

above sea level. 


To Colton, San Bernardino , Redlands , 
and Riverside. 


Station. 

Miles. 

Eleva¬ 

tion. 

Los Angeles. 



Arcade Depot. 

0 

278 

First Street. 



Commercial Street.... 

1 


Naud Junction. 



Shorb. 

7 


Alhambra. 

8 

42=5 

San Gabriel. 

9 

409 

East San Gabriel. 

10 

380 

Savanna. 

12 

296 

Monte. 

13 

286 

Puente. 

19 

323 

Lemon. 

25 

5 i 6 

Spadra. 

29 

705 

Pomona. 

33 

857 

Ontario. 

39 

981 

Chino. 

45 

716 

Cucamonga. 

42 

952 

South Etiwanda. 

46 


Sansevain. 

49 

1,060 

Bloomington. 

53 

1,083 

Colton. 

58 

965 

Redlands J unction.... 

63 

1,136 

Redlands. 

66 

1 , 15 ° 

Eastberne. 

# # 


Crafton. 

70 

B 570 

Brookside. 

65 

B 3 IO 

El Casco. 

72 

1,674 

Beaumont. 

81 

2,500 

Banning. 

San Bernar- ) Motor 

87 

2 , 3 I 7 

dino. V via 

62 

1,075 

Riverside...) Colton. 

66 

875 


To Santa Monica. 


Station. Miles. 

Los Angeles. o 

River Station. 2 

Commercial Street. 1 

First Street. V 2 


Station. 

Miles. 

Arcade Depot. 


Winthrop. 


University.. 


Ivy.. 


The Palms. 


Home Junction. 


Soldiers’ Home. 


Santa Monica. 


Santa Monica Canon. 


Port Los Angeles. 



To Santa Barbara. 


Station. 

Miles. 

Eleva¬ 

tion. 

Los Angeles. 


278 

Arcade Depot. 


• • • • 

First Street. 



Commercial Street.... 

1 


River Station. 

2 


Tropico.. 

6 

427 

Burbank. 

11 

461 

Pacoima. 

l 9 

• • • • 

Fernando. 

21 

1,066 

Newhall. 

30 

1,265 

Saugus . 

32 

1,159 

Castaic . 

37 

1,004 

Camulos. 

48 

733 

Piru... . 

50 

695 

Buckhorn . 

52 

593 

Fillmore. 

57 

475 

Sespe. 

60 

450 

Santa Paula. 

67 

286 

Saticoy. 

74 

146 

Montalvo. 

78 

89 

San Buenaventura_ 

83 

45 

Carpenteria. 

Santa Barbara— 

100 

8 

Chapala Street. 

no 

3 

Victoria Street. 

112 

0 

Hopevale .... . 

116 

116 

Goleta... 

118 

19 

La Patera. 

121 

4 

Ehvood.. 

124 

93 


22 




























































































3 22 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


To San Pedro and Long Beach. 


Station. 

Los Angeles. 

River Station. 

Commercial Street 

First Street. 

Arcade Depot. 

Florence . 

Lynwood. 

Compton. 

Thenard. 

Long Beach. 

Alamitos Beach... 

Wilmington. 

San Pedro. 


Miles. 
... o 
2 

... i 

... M 

... o 

... 5 

... 9 

... io 
... 18 
. . . 22 
. . . O 
. . . 20 
. . . 22 


To Whittier, Santa Ana, and Tnstin. 


Station. Miles. 

Los Angeles. o 

River Station. 2 

Commercial Street. 1 

First Street. o 

Arcade Depot. o 

Florence. 5 

Vinvale. 9 

Downey... 11 

Studebaker. 14 

Fulton Wells. 16 

Los Nietos. 17 

Whittier. 20 

Studebaker. 14 

Norwalk. 15 

Carmenita. 18 

Buena Park. 21 

Brookhurst. 23 

Anaheim. 25 

Miraflores. 27 

Orange. 30 

Santa Ana. 32 

Miraflores. 27 

Marlboro. 30 

McPherson. 34 

El Modena. 35 

Tustin. 38 


To Monrovia. 


Station. Miles. 

Arcade Depot. o 

First Street . o 

Commercial Street. 1 

Naud Junction. o 

Shorb. 7 

North Alhambra. 9 

North San Gabriel. T2 


Station. Miles. 

Sunny Slope. 13 

Arcadia. 16 

Monrovia. 18 


To Cliatsworth Park. 


Station. 

Miles. 

Eleva¬ 

tion. 

Los Angeles. 



River Station. 

1 

2 93 

Tropico. 

4 

427 

West Glendale. 

6 


Burbank. 

9 

461 

Lankershim. 

13 

628 

Reseda. 

22 

742 

Canoga. 

26 

788 

Chatsworth Park. 

30 

928 


To San Francisco. 


Station. 

Miles. 

Eleva¬ 

tion. 

Lcs Angeles. 

.. 

.... 

Arcade Depot. 

0 

278 

River Station. 

2 

• • • • 

Tropico. 

6 

427 

Burbank. 

11 

461 

Fernando. 

22 

1,066 

Newhall. 

30 

1,265 

Saugus. 

32 

1,265 

Lang. 

44 

1,681 

Ravenna.. 

54 

2,262 

Acton. 

57 

2,670 

Palmdale. 

69 

2,822 

Lancaster. 

78 

2,350 

Mojave. 

101 

2,751 

Tehachapi. 

120 

4,025 

Bakersfield. 

169 

415 

Tulare. 

232 

282 

Goshen Junction. 

242 

286 

Fresno.. 

276 

293 

Collis. 

291 


Tracy. 

417 

• • • • 

Berenda. 

3 C 5 

256 

Merced. 

33 i 

17 1 

Modesto. 

368 

9 1 

Lathrop. 

388 

26 

1 racy. 

399 

• • • . 

Byron. 

414 

34 

Port Costa. 



Oakland Pier. 

478 

14 

San Francisco. 

482 

12 

Stockton. 

395 

• • • • 

Sacramento. 

455 

• • • • 












































































































APPENDIX. 


323 


To El Paso and Neiv Orleans. 


Station. 

Miles. 

Eleva¬ 

tion. 

Los Angeles. 

0 

278 

Banning. 

87 

2,3U 

Cabazon. 

93 

L 779 

Palm Springs. 

107 

584 

Indio. 

130 

T '20 

Salton. 

154 

*263 

Volcano Springs. 

T79 

*225 


* Below sea level. 


Station. 

Miles. 

Eleva¬ 

tion. 

Yuma (Arizona). 

249 

140 

Gila Bend. 

372 

737 

Maricopa. 

387 

IH 73 

Tucson. 

497 

2 , 39 ° 

Benson . 

543 

3,578 

Deming (N. M.). 

716 

4,334 

El Paso. 

804 

3,70 

San Antonio. 

L 439 

986 

Houston. 

1,655 

64 

Lafayette. 

1,870 

5 i 

New Orleans. 

2,015 

0 


STATIONS ON THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RAILWAY. 

(SANTA FE SYSTEM.) 


To Barstow. 


Station. Miles. 

Los Angeles. o 

Downey Avenue. 2 

Morgan. 3 

Highland Park. 5 

Seco. 5 

Garvanza. 6 

Lincoln Park. 7 

South Pasadena. 8 

Raymond. 9 

Pasadena. 10 

Los Robles Avenue. 11 

Olivewood. n 

Fair Oaks. 12 

Lamanda Park. 13 

Chapman. 15 

Santa Anita. 16 

Arcadia. 17 

Monrovia. 19 

Duarte. 21 

Azusa. 25 

Glendora. 27 

San Dimas. 31 

1 ordsburg. 33 

North Pomona. 35 

Claremont. 36 

North Ontario. 40 

North Cucamonga. 44 

Rochester. 46 

Etiwanda. 49 

Rosena. 52 

Rialto. . 56 

San Bernardino. 60 

Highland Junction. 62 


Station. Miles. 

Verdemont. 68 

Keenbrook. 75 

Cajon. 79 

Summit. 86 

Hesperia. 96 

Victor. 105 

Oro Grande. no 

Point of Rocks. 120 

Cottonwood. 129 

Barstow. 141 


To Santa Monica and Redondo. 


Station. Miles. 

Downey Avenue.-..o 

Los Angeles.o 

Ballona Junction.2 

Nadeau Park.5 

Central Avenue.6 

Slauson.7 

Wildeson.8 

Hyde Park.10 

Centinela.n 

Tnglewood.12 

Wiseburn.16 

Arena.18 

Redondo Beach.22 

Inglewood.12 

Mesmer.14 

Machada.17 

Ocean Park.20 

Santa Monica...20.7 




































































































324 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


To San Diego. 


Station. Miles. 

Los Angeles. o 

Ballona Junction. 2 

Manhattan. 3 

Bandini. 7 

Rivera. 10 

Los Nietos. 12 

Santa Fe Springs. 13 

La Mirada. 18 

Northam. 19 

Fullerton. 24 

Anaheim. 27 

Orange. 32 

Santa Ana. 34 

Aliso. 36 

Irvine. 42 

Modjeska. 45 

El Toro. 47 

Capistrano. 56 

San Juan. 59 

San Onofre. 68 

Las Flores. 77 

Oceanside. 85 

Carlsbad. 88 

Minneapolis. 90 

La Costa. 93 

Merle. 95 

Encinitas. 97 

Del Mar. 103 

Sorrento. 108 

Linda Vista. 112 

Selwyn. 113 

Ladrillo. 118 

Moreno. 121 

Old Town. 123 

San Diego. 126 

Twenty-second Street. 128 

National City. 132 


To Riverside and San Bernardino, 
via Orange. 


Station. Miles. 

Los Angeles. o 

Anaheim. 27 

Orange. 32 

Olive. 35 

Yorba. 38 

Gvpsum. 44 

Rincon. 51 

South Riverside. 55 

Alvord. 59 

Arlington. 62 

Casa Blanca. 65 


Station. Miles. 

Pachappa. 66 

Riverside. 69 

East Riverside. 72 

Colton. 76 

San Bernardino. 79 


Around the Loop —San Bernardino 
to Redlands , etc. 


Station. Miles. 

San Bernardino. o 

E Street. 1 

Kehls. 2 

Victoria. 5 

Drew. 6 

Gladysta. 7 

Redlands. 9 

Eastberne. 10 

Craiton. n 

Mentone . 12 

Aplin. 14 

East Highland. 16 

Base Line. 17 

Molino. 18 

Highland. 19 

Asylum. 20 

Del Rosa. 22 

Valencia. 23 

Arrowhead. 24 

Highland Junction. 25 

San Bernardino. 27 


Oceanside to Fallbrook. 


Station. 

Miles. 

Oceanside. 


Ysidora. 


Ranch House. 


De Luz. 


Fallbrook. 



Oceanside to Escondido. 


Station. Miles. 

Oceanside. o 

Escondido Junction. 1 

Loma Alta. 7 

Vista. 10 

Buena. 14 

San Marcos. 16 

Richland. 19 

Escondido. 22 






























































































APPENDIX. 


325 


San Bernardino to San yacinto and 
Temecula. 


Station. Miles. 

San Bernardino. o 

Colton. 3 

East Riverside. 7 

Box Springs. 14 

Alessandro. 17 

Val Verde. 20 

Perris. 25 


Station. 
Menifee.... 
Winchester. 

Egan. 

Hemet. 

San Jacinto 

Perris. 

Elsinore ... 
Wildomar., 
Murrieta ... 
Linda Rosa. 
Temecula.. 


Miles. 
- 3 i 

• 35 

• 39 

.. 42 

44 
.. 25 

• 36 

.. 41 

.. 46 

.. 48 

• 5i 


STATIONS ON THE LOS ANGELES TERMINAL RAILWAY. 
Distances are given from East San Pedro. 


To Long Beach and East San Pedro. 


Station. Miles. 

East San Pedro. 0.0 

Terminal Island. 1.1 

Long Beach. 5.6 

Alamitos Beach. 6.5 

Signal Hill. 8.6 

Bixby. n.o 

South Clearwater. 15.0 

Clearwater. 15.7 

County Farm. 17.5 

Workman. 18.1 

Nadeau. 20.7 

Bells. 22.3 

Fruitland. 23.6 

Manhattan. 24.5 

Los Angeles. 27.5 

To Verdugo Park. 

Station. Miles. 

Glendale Junction. 30.3 

Three-Mile House. 31.7 

Hunters. 32.3 

Bonds. 3 2 -8 

Glassell. 33 • 2 

Mitchells. 33-7 

T ropico. 34-5 

Glendale. 35-7 

Verdugo Park. 37.4 


To Pasadena and Altadena. 


Station. 

Miles. 

Los Angeles. 

. 2 7-5 

Downey Avenue. 


Glendale Junction. 

. 30-3 

F Street. 


Sycamore Grove. 

. 3 1 - 6 

Highland Park.. 


Santa Fe Crossing. 

. 3 2 -9 

Garvanza.. 

. 33-5 

Lincoln Park. 


Wyatt.. 


South Pasadena.. 


Fair Oaks. 

. 35-3 

Raymond. 

.36.0 

California Street. 

.36.7 

Pasadena.. 


Mentone. 


Painters. 


Arroyo Park. 

. 4°-3 

Los Casitas.. 


Mountain View.. 


Marengo. 


Santa Rosa.. 


Altadena Junction. 







































































326 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


RATES TO CALIFORNIA. 

The rate to California averages eighty dollars for a first-class ticket 
from New York to Los Angeles or any other Pacific-coast point. 
Some of the roads charge a dollar or two more, and some a trifle 
less. This rate is for a limited ticket. The purchaser is not allowed 
to stop over. 

There is also a ticket, costing about ninety-five dollars, that 
allows the passenger to stop as he pleases between New York and 
the Pacific coast within thirty days. 

The railroads also sell round-trip tickets, first class, which are 
good for nine months, for one hundred and forty-eight dollars. There 
is also a second-class ticket which costs sixty-six dollars and fifty 
cents. 

The rates from Kansas City, Chicago, St. Louis, and New Or¬ 
leans are from twenty to twenty-five dollars less than rates quoted 
from New York. The Pacific Mail Steamship Company sells tickets 
via the Isthmus cf Panama for one hundred and twenty dollars. 
This trip by water takes twenty-eight days. 

Railway rates on roads in California are usually from three to 
four cents per mile. 

HOTELS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

Alhambra, Los Angeles County: Alhambra. 

Anaheim, Los Angeles County : The Planters’. 

Beaumont, San Bernardino County: The Highland House. 

Burbank, Los Angeles County: The Burbank. 

Colton, San Bernardino County: Transcontinental, Davis, 
Colton. 

Del Mar, San Diego County: The Del Mar. 

Downey, Los Angeles County: The Central. 

Fullerton, Los Angeles County: The Winchester. 

Garvanza, Los Angeles County : Garvanza Park. 

Glendale, Los Angeles County: The Glendale. 

Los Angeles, Los Angeles County : The Westminster, The Hol¬ 
lenbeck, Nadeau, St. Elmo, The Arcad, Natick, Jerry Illich’s, The 
California, The Livingstone, The Lilly, The Plaza Vista, Argyll, 


APPENDIX . 


327 

Bellevue Terrace, The Orland, Clifton, The Brunswick, Norwood ; 
many private boarding houses. 

Long Beach, Los Angeles County : Long Beach Hotel; numer¬ 
ous boarding houses. 

Lugonia, San Bernardino County : Terrace Villa. 

Monrovia, Los Angeles County: Grandview. 

Newhall, Los Angeles County: Southern. 

Nordhoff, Ventura County: Ojai Valley House, Oak Glen Cot¬ 
tages. 

Oceanside, San Diego County : Oceanside. 

Ontario, San Bernardino County: Ontario. 

Orange, Los Angeles County: Palmyra, Rochester. 

Pasadena, Los Angeles County: The Green, The Painter, Carl¬ 
ton, Acme, Los Angeles ; many private boarding houses. 

Pomona, Los Angeles County: Palomares. 

Riverside, San Bernardino County : The Glenwood Tavern, The 
Rowell ; private boarding houses. 

San Buenaventura, Ventura County : Santa Clara House, Palace, 
Occidental ; Rose Hotel. 

Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County : Arlington, San Marcus, 
Occidental, Commercial, and many private boarding houses. 

San Bernardino, San Bernardino County: Stewart, Southern, 
Starkey, St. Charles. 

San Diego, San Diego County: Coronado, St. James, Florence, 
Horton, and many boarding houses. 

Santa Ana, Los Angeles County : Brunswick, Taylor, Lacy. 

Santa Fe Springs, Los Angeles County: Santa Fe Springs 
Hotel. 

Santa Monica, Los Angeles County: Arcadia, Santa Monica, 
and many boarding houses. 

South Riverside, San Bernardino County: South Riverside. 

South Pasadena, Los Angeles County : South Pasadena. 

Whittier, Los Angeles County : The Lindley. 

Note. —Besides authorities mentioned in the text of this book, the 
author of Part II has made liberal use of the files of the Daily Times, 
Daily Herald, Daily Express, and of the Rural Californian, all of Los 
Angeles ; of the San Diego Sun and Union ; of the Riverside Daily Press; 


328 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


of the San Bernardino Times, Index, and Courier; of the Pasadena 
Union and Star ; of the Ventura Tree Press ; of the Santa Barbara Daily 
Press and Daily Independent, and of the Pomona Progress. Pie has 
also quoted liberally from the following works . Santa Barbara as it is, 
by Mary C. F. Plali-Wood ; History of Los Angeles County, by J. Al¬ 
bert Wilson ; History of Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, by Jessie 
D. Mason. The numerous pamphlets that have been issued about South¬ 
ern California, especially those published by the Los Angeles Chamber 
of Commerce, have been of great use to him. The Land of Sunshine, 
a beautiful magazine published in Los Angles, has also been of value. 

P'or the photographs, from which the illustrations have been engiaved, 
we are indebted to Messrs. Shaffner, Stanton, Rogers, and Golsh, of Los 
Angeles, and Tabor, the well-known San PTancisco photographer. 


INDEX. 


Abalones, 300. 

Agriculture, of the southern belt, 
46-51 ; Chaffee School, 235. 
Alfalfa, raising, 312. 

Alfileria flowers, 161. 

Alhambra, 15S. 

Anacapa, 2gS. 

Anaheim, 172-175. 

Landing, 177. 

Township, 172. 

Apples, culture, 309. 

Apricots, culture, 309. 

Arcadia, 166. 

Artesian wells in Los Angeles Coun¬ 
ty, 141 ; at Westminster, 176 ; 
near San Bernardino, 233. 
Atlantic coast contrasted with the 
Pacific, 2-8. 

Azusa Township, 158. 

Ballena, 219. 

Banner, 220. 

Banning, 256. 

Barstow, 234. 

Bates, Dr. C. B., on the climate of 
Santa Barbara, 285-290. 
Bathing at Santa Monica, 138 ; at 
Santa Barbara, 282. 

Beaumont, 254-256. 

Beet-sugar factories, 118. 


Bernardo, 221. 

Berries, 310. 

Bidwell, Belle J., on San Antonio 
Canon, 170-172. 

Blake, W. P., on the Arrowhead 
Hot Springs, 248-250. 

Briggs, Dr. H. M., on the Santa 
Barbara Hot Springs, 301. 

Burbank, 141. 

Calico, 234. 

California, probable division, 1. 

Camulos. 204. 

Campo, 220. 

Carlsbad, 221 ; analysis of water, 
226. 

Carpinteria, 278. 

Carr, Mrs. Jeannie C., on the trees 
and springs of Palm Valley, 260. 

Central belt, surface and climate, 
16-21. 

Chamberlain, Dr. W. M., on the 
climate of Pasadena, 149-155. 

Channel islands, 33. 

Cherries, 310. 

Chatsworth Park, 136. 

Chinese, character and habits, 106. 

Chute landing, 293. 

Climate, variety in neighboring dis¬ 
tricts, 11 ; four chief types, 13 ; 


329 




330 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


northern belt, 14 ; central belt, 
16 ; mistakes in selecting, 64 ; 
of Los Angeles, 124-127 ; of 
Coronado Leach, 210 ; of San 
Diego, 224; of the Temecula 
country, 229 ; of Colton, 236- 
238 ; of the San Gorgonio Val¬ 
ley, 254-256 ; of Riverside, 
266-270; of Santa Barbara, 
285-290. See also Temperature. 

Coast Range of mountains, general 
trend, 4. 

Colton, situation, 236 ; climate, 236- 
238. 

Commercial development of the 
southern belt, 51-53. 

Compton, 142. 

Coronado Beach, development, 209 ; 
climate, 210. 

Crafton, 242. 

Daggett, 234, 

Dairy industry, 313. 

Dana, Richard H , on San Juan, 182. 

Davidson, George, on Point Con¬ 
cepcion, 291. 

Del Mar, 221. 

Del Valle family, fiesta , 204-208. 

Dickenson, Prof. John, on the Arrow¬ 
head Hot Springs, 245-248. 

Diseases of Southern California, 62 ; 
those benefited there, 63 ; those 
benefited by the Santa Fe 
Springs, 184 ; rheumatism and 
pulmonary diseases benefited 
in the Temecula country, 228 ; 
those benefited at Colton, 237 ; 
in the Hesperia Valley, 238 ; at 
Indio, 258 ; at Santa Barbara, 
288. 


Dominguez, Don Manuel, a type of 
the Spanish settlers, 59. 

Downey, 147. 

Earlham, 178. 

Education, 61. 

El Cajon, 219. 

El Monte, 160. 

Township, 158. 

Elsinore, 252. 

Encinitas, 221. 

Escher, Dr. J. F., on the mineral 
springs of San Diego County, 
225-227. 

Escondido, 221. 

Etiwanda, 235. 

Fallbrook, 222. 

Fenn, Dr. C. M., on the climate of 
San Diego, 224. 

Figs, culture, 308. 

Fishing at San Pedro, 143. 

Florence, 144. 

Flowers in Los Angeles, 97 ; alfi- 
leria and poppies, 161 ; a hedge 
of roses, 239; growing as a 
business, 311. 

Fogs of the southern belt, 37. 

Fruit of the southern belt, 50 ; 
preserving, 11S ; season in 
market, 128; in San Bernar¬ 
dino County, 230 ; cultivating 
effect of fruit growing, 232 ; 
in Palm Valley, 261 ; at Riv¬ 
erside, 262, 264, 265 ; at Santa 
Paula, 273 ; in Santa Barbara 
County, 285 ; profit from, 305- 
311 ; culture of minor varie¬ 
ties, 311. 

Fullerton, 175. 








INDEX. 


331 


Game, 131, 252. 

Garden Grove, 177. 

Glendale, 141. 

Grain, yield, 312. 

Grapes, culture, 309. 

Harbors of the southern belt, 56-58. 

Hazlett, J. W., on mineral springs 
in San Bernardino County, 
250. 

Hesperia Valley, 238. 

Holder, C. F., on the features of 
Monrovia, 167. 

Honey in San Diego County, 220 ; 
production as an industry, 
313 - 

Hotels in Los Angeles, 73 ; at Pas¬ 
adena, 155 ; the Arlington in 
Santa Barbara, 282 ; general 
list, 326. 

Hueneme, 275. 

Humidity, relation to temperature, 
6 ; of the southern belt, 37. 

Hutchinson, Dr. G. L., on the cli¬ 
mate of Colton, 236-238. 

Indians, conference at the Pala Mis¬ 
sion, 203 ; Mission Indians, 
256 ; the Coahuillas, 258. 

Indio, 256-260. 

Inglewood, 140. 

Interior plateau, position and sur¬ 
face, 22-25 ; climate, 25-29. 

Irrigation in the southern belt, 47- 
49 ; Sweetwater Dam, 214 ; San 
Diego Flume Company, 218 ; 
at Victor, 238 ; Bear Valley 
reservoir, 242 ; sources of water 
supply for San Bernardino Coun¬ 
ty, 243-245 ; Hernet Valley 


reservoir, 253 ; need and cost, 
314. See also Artesian Wells. 

Islands, 294-301. 

Jackson, Mrs. Helen Hunt, work 
for the Mission Indians, 190- 
202 ; letter to the Coronels, 

193-195 ; letter to the Commis¬ 
sioner of Indian Affairs, 195 ; 
letter outlining Ramona, 196- 

198 ; at work on the book, 19S ; 
another letter to the Coronels, 

199 ; letter telling of her acci¬ 
dent, 201 ; her memory in South¬ 
ern California, 208. 

Julian, 219. 

La Ballona Township, 136. 

Lamanda Park, 157. 

Land, high productiveness, 49; 
prices, 313 ; government, 314. 

Lemons at Chula Vista, 214 ; mode 
of raising, 307. 

Bindley, Dr. Walter, on the climate 
of Los Angeles, 124-127. 

Live stock, raising, 313. 

Lompoc, 290. 

Long Beach, 144. 

Los Angeles, hotels, 73 ; history, 
73-83 ; present condition, 83- 
85 ; sights, 85-103 ; cemeteries 
and crematory, 103 ; cosmo¬ 
politan character, 104; religious 
and educational advantages, 
107-110 ; benevolent and fra¬ 
ternal societies, 110-113 ; parks, 
113-117 ; manufactures, 117— 
121 ; trade, 121-123 ; building 
record, 123 ; climate, 124-127 ; 
features of interest, 126; the 








332 


CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


Grand Round, 166 ; oil borings, 
317-320; manufacturing pros¬ 
pects, 320. 

County, 128 ; mineral springs, 183. 

Township, 140. 

Los Nietos Township, 144. 

Lugonia, 241. 

Manufactures, existing and possible, 
117-121, 320; at Pomona, 163. 

Meals on the railroads, 70. 

Medicines while traveling, 71. 

Melons, yield, 311. 

Menifee Valley, 254. 

Mentone, 241. 

Mesa Grande, 220. 

Miles, Gen. Nelson A., on the land 
and products of Southern Cali¬ 
fornia, 315. 

Mines, 131, 183, 234, 253, 254, 266. 

Missions, San Fernando Rey, 133 ; 
San Gabriel, 157; San Juan 
Capistrano, 181 ; history, 188- 
190 ; Pala, 203 ; San Luis Rey, 
222 ; San Bernardino, 239 ; San 
Buenaventura, 273 ; Santa Bar¬ 
bara, 279 ; La Purissima Con¬ 
cepcion, 291. 

Mohave Desert, 130. 

Moisture. See Humidity. 

Monrovia, 167. 

Monte Vista, 136. 

Montecito, 283. 

More murder, 272. 

Mount Wilson, 158. 

Mountains of the Pacific coast, 3. 

Murrietta, 229, 252. 

National City, 212. 

Nectarines, culture, 309. 


Newhall, 129. 

Newport Harbor, 180. 

Nordhoff, 275. 

Normal School, California State, 
108. 

North Cucamonga, 235. 

North Ontario, 235. 

Norwalk, 147. 

Nuevo, 219. 

Nuts, profit in, 147 ; in Santa Bar¬ 
bara County, 278, 285 ; culture, 
310. 

Ocean current, 6. 

Oceanside, 221. 

Ojai Valley, 275-278. 

Olive oil, pure brands, 213. 

Olives, at the San Fernando Mis¬ 
sion, 133 ; value as food, 206 ; 
growing, 308. 

Ontario, 235. 

Orange, 178. 

Orange County, 172, 181 ; mineral 
springs, 183. 

Oranges, income from, 178 ; cost of 
raising, 306. 

Otis, Mrs., on Santa Cruz Island, 
299 - 

Pacific coast, contrasted with the 
Atlantic, 2-8 ; ocean current, 
6 ; climatic belts, 13. 

Palmdale, 260. 

Palms, grove near Indio, 257; in 
Palm Valley, 260. 

Pasadena, development, 148 ; to¬ 
pography of its vicinity, 149 ; 
soil, 150; water supply, 151 i 
temperature, 152 ; rainfall, 153 ; 
healthfulness, 153. 




INDEX. 


Peaches, culture, 309. 

Pears, culture, 309. 

Perris, 253. 

Petroleum, supply and uses, 317— 
320. 

Pinacate, 253. 

Point Concepcion, 291. 

Pomona, 161-164. 

Population, high character, 58-61. 

Port Los Angeles, shipping, 57. 

Potrero, 220. 

Poultry raising, 313. 

Poway, 221. 

Prunes, culture, 308. 

Puente, 161. 

Quakers, in Los Angeles County, 
178. 

Railroads, transcontinental, 53-56 ; 
distances of stations from Los 
Angeles, 321-325 ; fares from 
the East, 326. 

Rains, extent and frequency in the 
southern belt, 9 ; annual rain¬ 
fall at certain points, 17; rain¬ 
fall of Los Angeles, 125, 

153; scantiness at Indio, 256 ; 
rainfall at Riverside, 265, 

268. 

Raisins grown at Orange, 178. 

Ramona, home of, 272. 

Redlands, 239. 

Redondo as a seaport, 57 ; develop¬ 
ment, 143. 

Rialto, 236. 

Riverside, 261-265 1 its climate, 
266-270. 

County, 252.. 

Rock House, 253. 


333 

Roe, E. P., on an orange grove in 
January, 283. 

Root, Dr. J. W., on the climate of 
Beaumont, 254-256. 

Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley, ex¬ 
tent and character, 17. 

San Antonio Canon, 168-172. 

Township, 144. 

San Bernardino, 232-234. 

County, extent and products, 230- 
232 ; sources of irrigating water, 
243 - 245 - 

Old, 239. 

San Buenaventura, 273. 

San Clemente, 294. 

San Diego as a seaport, 56, 218 ; 
situation and history, 215 ; 
churches, 218 ; climate, 224. 

County, extent and character, 
208. 

San Fernando, 134. 

Township, 132-136. 

San Francisco, loss of former com¬ 
mercial supremacy, 51-53. 

San Gabriel, 157. 

Township, 148. 

San Jacinto, 253. 

San Jose Township, 158. 

San Juan-by-lhe-Sea, 181-183. 

San Juan Capistrano, 181. 

Township, 172. 

San Luis Rey, 222. 

San Miguel, 300. 

San Nicolas, 298. 

San Pedro, as a seaport, 56 ; as a 
summer resort, 143. 

Santa Ana, 178. 

Township, 172. 

Santa Anita, 164. 








CALIFORNIA OF THE SOUTH. 


334 

Santa Barbara, as a seaport, 57 ; the 
Mentone of America, 278 ; its 
Mission, 279; history, 280; pres¬ 
ent condition, 281 ; Arlington 
Hotel, 282 ; sea-bathing, 282 ; 
climate, 285-290. 

County, 270. 

Island, 297. 

Santa Catalina, 295. 

Santa Cruz, 29S. 

Santa Fe Springs, 146. 

Santa Monica, 138-140. 

Santa Paula, 273. 

Santa Rosa, 300. 

Savanna, 160. 

Sawyer, Dr. W. B., on the climate 
of Riverside, 266-270. 

Schools, 61 ; Whittier State, 146; 
Throop Polytechnic Institute, 
149 - 

Seasons, wet and dry, 8. 

Seed raising, 311. 

Seven Palms, 256. 

Sierra Madre, 158. 

Sierra Nevada Mountains, general 
trend, 3. 

Silk culture, 313. 

Simoom of 1859, 279. 

Snow in the mountains, 10. 

Soldiers’ Home, 140. 

Soledad Canon, its white sulphur 
springs, 185. 

Township, 129-132. 

Southern belt, position and surface, 
29-33 ; rainfall, 33-37 fogs, 
37 ; humidity, 37 ; sunshine, 38 ; 
winds, 38-43 ; temperature, 43- 
46 ; agriculture, 46-51 ; com¬ 
mercial development, 51-53 ; 
transcontinental roads, 53-56 ; 


harbors, 56-58 ; high character 
of population, 58-61 ; educa¬ 
tion, 61 ; diseases, 62-66. 

South Pasadena, 157. 

South Riverside, 265. 

Spadra, 161. 

Spanish inhabitants, 58-60 ; virtues 
and weakness, 80-83. 

Springs, mineral, Lang’s, 132, 185 ; 
Santa Fe, 146, 183 ; San Juan, 
183, 184 ; Fulton Wells, 183 ; 
McKnight’s, 185 ; White Sul¬ 
phur, 185-187; San Fernando 
Sulphur, 187 ; El Cino, 188 ; 
Bockman Soda, 225 ; Tia Juana, 
225 ; Agua Caliente, 225 ; Agua 
Tibia, 226 ; Santa Margarita, 
226; Carlsbad, 226 ; Temecula, 
227 ; Arrowhead, 242, 245-250 ; 
Rabels, 242, 250 ; Harlem, 242, 
250 ; Lytle Creek, 250 ; Temes- 
cal, 250, 303 ; Agua Caliente, 
250; Bear Valley, 251; Twenty- 
nine Palms, 251 ; Volcano, 258 ; 
Matilija, 277, 303 ; Las Cruces, 
290, 302 ; Santa Barbara, 301 ; 
San Marcos, 302 ; Espado, 303. 

Sugar beets, culture, 312. 

Summer resorts, 66; Catalina, 297. 

Sunstroke, freedom from, 259. 

Temperature of inland districts, 6 ; 
day and night, 7 ; of the coast 
and the interior, 10 ; mean at 
certain points, 17 ; of the south¬ 
ern belt, 43-46 ; of Los Angeles, 
124; of Santa Monica, 138; 
comparison of Los Angeles with 
Eastern cities, 152; records of 
Atlantic and Pacific coast 




INDEX. 


335 


points, 210-212 ; at Riverside, 
267; of California and Newport 
sea waters, 283 ; at Santa Bar¬ 
bara, 286. 

Tomale, 85. 

Truman, B. C., on the founding of 
Anaheim, 172-174. 

Tustin, 180. 

University of Southern California, 
109. 

Vegetables in San Bernardino Coun¬ 
ty, 231 ; yield, 311. 

Ventura as a seaport, 57. 

County, 270. 

Verdugo Canon, 141. 

Warner, Charles Dudley, on the 
writing of Ramona, 198. 


Westminster, 175-177. 

Township, 172. 

Wheat, extensive fields, 132. 

Whittier, 146. 

Widney, Dr. J. T., on the food value 
of the olive, 206. 

Wildomar, 252. 

Wilmington, 142. 

Township, 141. 

Winds from the plateaus, 7 ; from 
the mountains, 8 ; absence of 
cyclones, II ; of the central belt, 
19 ; of the southern belt, 38-43 ; 
mildness at Colton, 237 ; in the 
San Gorgonio Valley, 255. 

Wine, leading industry of Anaheim, 

173 - 

Worthington, Dr. Henry, on the 
Temecula Hot Springs, 227- 
229. 


THE END. 























. 

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